Wonderwall
by Fitcherella
Summary: AU. After years together Emily and Naomi are on the brink of divorce but a last weekend as a family at the Fitch's house may or may not change their minds.
1. Chapter 1

**I've been wanting to write this story for a while but I just couldn't get the time to do it. I hope that you like reading it just as much as I like writing it. Here is the first chapter of many more. **

** I apologize for misusing some of the language since I am not British but I will try my best to abide by it as much as I can. I don't have a beta reader, so all the mistakes are my own. **

**The song used in this first bid (and later) is one called "Wonderwall" by the band Oasis. The story isn't really based on it, but I was listening to the song while I started writing so I decided to include some of it. **

****Thank you in advance for reading. Hope you take the time to comment or review and let me know if I should continue it. ****

* * *

1

She'd been sitting in a booth across from the bar for what she felt was way too long to have to wait for something like this. It was way too fucking early in the afternoon to have drank so much already but today wasn't gonna be the most fabulous day in the world but she had to live through it because it was part of the deal she had made with them…it was what she was supposed to do.

"Fancy a beer mate?" She said as she saw him sit next to her. His hair dirty blonde hair too long for her liking and his attempt at some facial hair a little above a soy sauce mustache made her smile like it always did.

"Don't think so…unless you want her to actually kill you this time"

He sat down next to her and smiled as she took him by the shoulders and planted a sloppy kiss on this right cheek.

"Mum, please" He said as he wiped off his face and started laughing.

"Must you always be this petulant?" She said getting up off the table and waddling over toward the bar for a refill. "I think you do need a drink, mate!"

"He's just the same as you" She heard a familiar voice from behind her say with a not so friendly tone. "And no…he does _not_ need a drink, Naomi…he's only 13…"

She took the refilled drink away from her hands and started to drink it down herself. "I think you've had enough for today."

"Hey" Naomi said a bit upset. "I paid for that…and also…you can't tell me what to do…you're not my wife…_anymore_"

"Technically she is, until you sign this little pack of papers" another voice said from in back of where all three of them were sitting.

"Aunt Katie…thank goodness you're here!" He got up off this booth and ran over to his favorite aunt's arms and gave her a hug and a kiss.

"So _she_ gets a hug and a kiss and I get nothing..."

"That's because she doesn't drive me crazy…"

"Liam, stop talking to your mum that way…" Emily said as she sat in front of the blonde who was moving to get up and get some more to drink.

"Not Liam, Noel…okay? Right…Noely…tell your mother over there that we agreed your name was gonna be Noel but she changed it at the last minute…as she usually does…changes her mind about absolutely everything and then all that she promised is now down the fucking drain…"

"Again Naomi? Really?…the Liam/Noel thing…the fuckinG Liam/Noel thing is what you're bringing up two minutes from filing our divorce papers…"

"Does it really matter what I bring up?…it doesn't really matter what I say or what I do this is still fucked up and I don't even know why I am doing this…why we are even doing this?"

"Stop, both of you!" Katie said yelling at them as she took the next pint off Naomi's hand and walked her over to the booth. "This is fucking ridiculous. Look at him…" She pointed at her nephew who looked utterly depressed at the sight of his parents fighting. "Can't you at least try to be _civil_ when he's around…"

"It's alright, Aunt Kay" Liam said looking down at the floor and starting to leave. "I shouldn't have even come. You two just figure out what to do with me on your own…maybe give me up on adoption or send me away to Nan's and Gram and Granpa's or whatever…I can care less. I'll be in the park around the corner. Call me when you're ready to go Ma."

He walked over to the door and opened it not before looking at them once more with a defeated glance. Naomi and Emily looked at him and then at each other for a second with sad faces and then Emily went to step up to find her son, but Naomi stood up before her.

"Naoms, let me…"

"No…" Naomi said with a determined look. "This is my fault; I have been acting like an obnoxious twat this entire time…I'll fix this."

Without allowing Emily to answer she started walking outside the pub into the sunshine. She adjusted her eyes and then looked both ways to assess where it was the park was located and then walked over. She was way too tipsy to follow directions right now.

There he was, sitting on a bench with this ear buds in his ears and the music so loud that she could hear it from where she was walking.

_And all the roads we have to walk are winding__  
And all the lights that lead us there are blinding  
There are many things that I would like to say to you  
But I don't know how_

Even from far away she recognized it immediately, how could she not. She'd probably heard it a million times before and could sing it by heart and as she mumbled the lyrics to herself in a soft voice she sat next to him and offered him a smoke.

He looked at her and rolled his eyes and shook his head and then she smiled at him and motioned toward his ears so he could take the buds off his ears.

"Sorry, I forget she'd kill me…"

He grumbled and turned off the music app on his phone as the both stared down the dirt path without saying much.

"I am sorry I am such a twat, mate…I don't know what's gotten into me lately" she said with the most sincerity she could muster, the same way she had always spoken to him.

He didn't say anything back and instead took to playing with the phone he held in his right hand and staring out into space.

"I just…I don't know how to handle this, you know…" She said looking back at him as he scratched his eyebrow just the same way Emily did when she was upset.

She looked behind for a second toward the pub and smirked sadly at it remembering how once upon a time those things that Emily did, even those little ticks that nobody noticed were the most adorable thing ever. There was a time in which to her Emily was her complete world and she could not for the life of her understand how it was that they had gotten to the point where they were at the moment.

"I know" he said sadly as he moved closer to her and placed his hand on top of hers which was resting lightly on the bench between them.

She looked up and smiled at her boy and thought that no matter how much pain she was in right now she needed to be an adult for once and concentrate on the pain she and Emily were causing him. It was unfair and she needed to fix it. She needed to reassure him that despite all that was happening with her and his mum, this wasn't his fault. Their separation could never be his fault. In fact, the only reason they had even gotten together in the first place was because of him. He was the reason they existed, he could never be reason they fell apart.

"You know the first time I saw your mum I was sitting on this very bench?"

"Really?" he said a bit confused as to this revelation. "This same one?"

"Yea" Naomi looking out toward the pub and then looking back at him. "This same one"

"I was actually waiting for your uncle Cook to pick me up for a date"

"You dated Uncle Cook?"

"No…It was supposed to be a double date. With Aunt Katie…"

"And mum?"

"With your dad actually…"

_Naomi was nervous as hell for her date. She hadn't gone out in a very long time, so long that she still couldn't place the face of the last bloke she had date so this time, when she had agreed to go out with Cook and his best mate she had been a little adamant on doing it but after long hours of convincing a little bit of spliff-induced convincing from her mate Cook she had finally agreed. _

_So now she was sitting in front of Fishpond's Tavern waiting for Cook, his date and his best mate to arrive. According to Cook, this guy was well worth her time and that was the reason she had agreed to the entire thing. Little did she know that his mate wasn't too interested in going on this date and he had left it to Cook to find a last-minute replacement for Naomi's date. One thing she wasn't expecting that this replacement would be a girl. _

_"Naomikins, this is Emilio…Emilio….Naomikins."_

"So instead of dad, Uncle Cook decided it was funny and he brought to bring your mum along."

"Why funny?"

"Because he kept on insisting I was gay"

"But you were…you are gay…"

"Actually, I wasn't…I mean…I was but I was in denial…"

"Denial?"

"Yea, I knew I was…but at that time I didn't wanna admit it…but your Uncle Cook kept on insisting that I was and so instead of bringing your dad over to our date he brought his date's sister."

"Mum?"

"Yea, me"

Naomi and Liam both looked up from where they were sitting and saw her. Naomi smiled a bit because no matter what situation they were in, no matter how much they hated each other at the moment and how much they fought she knew deep inside of her that she loved that girl…and that she always would…ever since the first moment she saw her and until the day she died.

_"Hi, I am Emily"_

_"Naomi" _

_Naomi got up off her bench with a stupid smile on her face. Despite the fact that this was all awkward for her, despite the fact that she would've never done this before in front of other people she couldn't stop herself from taking her hand and staring at her. She had to be the most beautiful girl she had ever seen in her entire life. _

"Can I sit?" Emily said as she approached her son and soon to be ex-wife on the bench.

"Yes" They both said in unison with a smile on their face. For some reason that response made her smile. They had always done things in unison. They had always been so alike and that sometimes made her a little jealous. She was always jealous of the way her son adored his other mum, even though she also loved it.

She looked over at two spots open on the bench and though in the past she may have chosen different, this time she opted to walk over to the left and sit on the other side of Liam. Naomi stared at her for a minute with sad eyes well knowing that Emily had thought about sitting next to her, even for just a second.

The feeling that consumed her was painful. It was very painful to know that after all that had happened between them; after all that they had loved each other they were now in this spot in their lives where they couldn't even sit next to one another. In fact she wasn't sure why it was that Emily was even there. She wasn't sure why she had come out and why she was even sitting near them.

_"So is this like a triple date, then?" Katie said as she approached her sister and her date's best friend who were still standing looking at each other. _

_"Triple date?" Cook said a bit confused. _

_"Yea, idiot…you said you were setting up my sister with your mate from college…and then you bring this girl along."_

_"This _is_ my mate from college…one of them at least. This is Naomikins…your sister's date."_

_"What?"_

"Doesn't sound like Aunt Katie was too happy about this whole thing" Liam said laughing a bit at the thought. He knew his aunt well enough to know exactly how she may have reacted that night and he almost wished he had been there to see it.

"She wasn't" Emily said smiling back at him. "She hated the fact that I was gay and she hated that Cook kept on trying to set me up with every and any girl that he thought I could like."

"So he set you up with mum…because he thought you'd like her. He thought you'd like each other." Liam said looking side to side to look at both his parents and then smiling.

"I think he did it to piss off your Aunt Katie" Emily said laughing a bit.

"And maybe to piss me off as well…he knew I wasn't too keen on him telling everyone I was a lesbian…"

"Why not?" Liam said curiously.

"Like I said he thought I was in denial…he wanted to prove to me that the reason I didn't wanna sleep with him was because I was into girls."

"God, he was bad…" Liam laughed thinking about his uncle Cook and how much fun he had always been. He missed him, he missed seeing him around and he hated what had happened but he still couldn't help but laugh. Despite what everyone said about him, he knew his uncle was a good guy and that he loved him, his mothers and most of all he loved his Aunt Katie.

"Yea, but he was also right."

_"Come on Naomikins, don't twat around…just be a good mate and stay…you know how hard it was for me to get this girl to go out with me? She wouldn't go anywhere unless her sister came along…please Blondie…Cookie monster hasn't pulled in two weeks…I'm bone dry…"_

_Naomi felt sorry for him and she didn't know why. Despite the fact that she was pissed at what he had just done, she was also a bit curious at meeting this redhead. She hated Cook at the moment and she hated his insistence on having her try this whole lesbianism thing out because for all intent and purposes she had never considered herself more than straight. She had always dated men, she had always shagged men…so why did Cook insist on her liking women? What the fuck was his problem?_

_"What the fuck is your bloody problem mate? How many times am I gonna tell you…I am _NOT _gay…not wanting to shag you doesn't make me a lesbian, you know what it makes me?"_

_"Clever" he said with a smirk on his face as he approached her and pulled his arm around her neck. _

"So he knew you weren't interested…but he kept on insisting anyway." Liam said looking at Naomi.

"Yea, he knew that I wasn't interested in him and it wasn't because I liked girls…but I guess he had like a sixth sense for these types of things…because…"

"You did like girls" Emily said finishing her sentence.

"I liked _a_ girl" Naomi responded rapidly as she looked shyly at Emily and then looked down to the floor.

"You loved her" Liam said placing his hand on his mum's hand once again, making her look up at him.

_"I am sorry I took off that way that was rude of me" Naomi said excusing herself to both Emily and Katie who were now sitting on the bench waiting for their dates. "I was just expecting something else"_

_"It's okay…I was expecting something else also" Emily said shyly as she smiled back at the blonde for a minute. Though it had been quite embarrassing to see Naomi flee so suddenly after finding out that she was her date, she was very glad that the blonde had thought it twice and had come back…even if it wasn't what she was hoping for. _

_"Something with a little more cock?" Katie said raising one eyebrow at Cook still furious at him for doing exactly what she had told him not to do. She had warned Cook that her sister thought she was gay and that he needed to find her someone suitable within his mates so that she could date but the least she was expecting was for Cook to set up his sister with a girl. _

_"I guess" Naomi said laughing a bit at the entire thing. Something that made Emily laugh along with her. _

_"Sorry, I am a little lacking in that area…but I am a mighty fair drinker and I can dance the night away if that will do for tonight."_

_Emily smiled at Naomi and then looked at Katie who was horrified at the thought of her sister being on a date with another girl. The face Katie was making only amped Emily into wanting to piss her off even more so she did what any sibling in their right mind would do…go completely against anything Katie would expect her to do. _

_"Sounds fine to me" Emily said threading her fingers through the blondes and smiling cheekily. _

_"But Emsy…she's a girl" Katie tried to explain as if this was completely oblivious to the lot of them. Emily didn't answer anything, mostly because by now all she could do was look nervously at Naomi who was about to burst out laughing at seeing what this whole thing did to her 'date's' twin sister. _

_"Well no reason to dwell on the whole confusion, why don't we grow past it and go in before we miss out on the show…if you don't mind…ladies first." Cook said as motioned his hands over toward the pub. _

_Naomi and Emily looked at each other and then at Katie who pressed her lips in frustration and then started walking toward the pub with Cook and Katie trailing after them. They were still holding hands, something that made Katie still a little uncomfortable but which at the moment worked amazingly well for them both. _

And that was the beginning of Naomi Campbell and Emily Fitch.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you kindly Wilhelm Wigworthy for your quick review and encouragement and everyone else who is or will be reading. I didn't wanna post these so fast but I thought that the second chapter is important for the story so I decided to post. As usual all mistake are mine and of course (just as everyone else states) Skins, Naomily or any other character (except for Liam) belongs to me. **

* * *

2

_Naomi and Emily hadn't been able to stop looking at each other the entire night. In fact, they hadn't even let go of their hands as they all stood in front of the little stage at the pub and watched the band playing. The music was way too loud and far too alternative for that establishment but Cook had convinced his 'Uncle Keith' to allow his mate's band to play there to practice for their future gigs and so they did…every single Saturday night, the same set of songs to the bore of all the pubs' patrons and to Cook's utter amusement. He sang along with them completely out of tune with his lager in one hand and this other arm wrapped around Katie who was just as drunk as he was. _

_Because maybe__  
You're gonna be the one that saves me  
And after all  
You're my wonderwallllllllllll_

_"You're mate is really something else, isn't he?" Emily asked loudly into Naomi's ear. _

_Naomi wasn't expecting that. She was a bit bladdered herself as she tried desperately to avoid dealing with the fact that a really beautiful redheaded little twin had been holding her hand the entire set and hadn't let go since they had walked into the pub. Her eyes fluttered a bit and a shiver ran up her spine as she felt Emily's hot breath on her ear and for a moment she licked her lips and had to think twice before turning around and tasting those impossibly juicy lips she'd been staring at the entire time. _

_"What?" Naomi answered as she hadn't really heard what Emily had told her. _

_"Cook" Emily said really loudly just as the song ended and the few people who were standing in the band started to cheer on the band for the next one. _

_"That's me" Cook said looking up and seeing his mate and the other twin in a bit of a compromising position, he couldn't help but laugh. _

_"What's so funny?" Naomi said blushing at the sight of Emily's face right in front of her. As soon as she heard Cook laugh she moved away and let go of the redhead's hand and looked over at her mate who was still laughing maniacally. _

_"Your face mate…you look like you've been caught with your hands in the cookie jar" he said making eyes at Emily who had to bite her lip to stop herself from smiling. _

_"You could put your hands down this cookie jar if you'd prefer..." he said pointing at his nether regions as he felt Katie slap him on the head and his friends stop laughing. _

_"You tosser, I am the only one with access to that cookie jar…you hear me?" _

_Emily couldn't stop laughing as she watched her sister walk away furiously and Cook run after her and Naomi look back still embarrassed at all that was happening. _

_"You know I don't bite" Emily said looking at Naomi with a chuckle. _

_Naomi looked back at her and started to laugh along with Emily._

_"At least not always" she thought as she traced Naomi's waist with her arm and pulled her closer to her and started to sing along with the band that was now singing a new song. _

"She lied" Naomi announced proudly, almost forgetting who she had been telling the story to. "She does bite…quite a bit."

"Naomi!" Emily said bugging her eyes out at her ex and then pointing at Liam who looked at them with a disgusted face.

"Ewww…mum…T-M-I" Liam said letting go of his mother's hand as the blonde started to go into a fit of laughter.

"That's not what I meant…ill-minded Fitches…" she said pointing at both Liam and Emily who started at her with eerily familiar deep brown eyes.

"So what _did_ you mean then?" Liam inquired rapidly.

"I was talking about her appetite"

_"You're gonna eat ALL of that plate Emily?" Naomi inquired as she watched Emily serve herself a bit more chips into the plate from the buffet table close to the back of the stage where the band had just finished playing their set. Fishpond's was known for nothing else if not for the huge Saturday buffet which Cook had come up with himself to help Uncle Keith bring some more patrons into the pub. The place was completely in shackles and hardly any money was coming in so one lazy afternoon Cook had suggested they do a buffet style dinner for people to help themselves to food as he was convinced that this would drive them to come in and drink as they ate. He wasn't wrong. _

_"I am" Emily said smiling and then adding some extra trimmings to her plate just to show Naomi what she could actually do and then they both walked over to where Cook and her sister were now sitting and snogging and started to eat. _

_"I don't know how you can have such an appetite having to watch yourself make out with that tosser"_

_"Myself?" Emily asked as she took a couple of chips into her mouth. _

_"She's your twin, the same as you" Naomi answered as she took a fork to the bit of salad she was able to scrounge up from the entire buffet-full of nothing but junk food. _

_"We aren't the same" Katie said while she stopped and stole some food off her sister's plate and then placed it in her mouth. "We are nothing alike" _

_"Nothing at all" Emily said still chewing as she put more food in her mouth. _

_For some reason Naomi found it rather cute that the redhead would be trying her best to prove to her that she could eat up the entire plate of food that she had prepared for herself. So when Katie went to take another piece off of her sister's plate, Naomi slapped Katie's hand away and ordered Cook to go get his hungry date some food. _

_"Hey what was that for?" Katie said angrily at Naomi who was looking at her smiling. _

_"I want her to prove to me that she can finish that entire plate of food like she promised."_

_"I can finish it" Emily said proudly as she sat up in her chair and started to eat at the mountain of food in front of her. _

_"She can Naomi, don't doubt it…my sister can eat." Katie said as she stood up and walked over toward Cook who was walking with two plates in his hands and about to drop one. _

_"Heck yea I can eat…I can eat this and those two if I really wanted to" Emily said pointing at the two plates that Cook and now Katie were carrying over to their table. _

_"Fine then" Naomi said standing up and pulling some money out of her pocket and placing it on the table. "20…7…27 quid says you can't do it." _

_Emily looked over at Katie and Cook and then looked at Naomi's challenging face and then thought about what she was about to do. She knew that in the right circumstance she could do anything she put her mind to but she also remembered that she had actually eaten some of her mum's dinner before she had left her house and she was actually not as hungry as she had led on. _

_Regardless she was going to try it, not because she needed to prove to Naomi or anyone else anything but because there was actually something else she had wanted and knew that if she really put her mind to it, she was gonna be able to get it. _

_"Fine" Emily said smiling. "But I am not doing it for 27 quid…you gotta up the ante" She said biting her lips. _

_"Alright" Naomi said, preparing to do bet whatever it was the redhead wanted to bet at the moment. "What's it gonna be? 50? 100?" _

_"A kiss" Emily said as she bit her lip her and looked straight into Naomi's eyes._

_"A kiss?"_

"Ha!" Liam said slapping his knee as he laughed at the story. "That's my mum!" he said taking Emily by the neck and pulling her over to him.

Both his mums laughed for a minute as Emily pulled into her son's embrace and then looked at his other mum and they both blushed.

Naomi's heart fluttered a bit as she swore she saw Emily bite her lip the same way she always did before she wanted to kiss her and for a minute she almost wished she could go back to that time and kiss her right there and then and just never let her go.

If she could, if Emily would just let her then maybe she'd do that right now as well for at the moment she wished nothing more than to be able to pull her wife and son into her arms and forget all this stupid fighting and just be a family again. But things were a lot more complicated than that and Naomi knew it. So instead of dwelling on it she went on with her story.

_"You're crazy" Naomi said as she watched the little redhead finish the first plate of food and start pulling the second one over toward her without much effort. "She's crazy" _

_Even after the shock of what Emily was asking she had actually agreed to the bet she had imposed because she was sure the little redhead could not possibly finish the three plates of junk food plus the three lagers that were on the table that night. _

_And she hadn't even bothered on asking much in return from Emily if she was the one who won the bet. She knew that anything would suffice as long as she could erase that cheeky smirk off Emily's face when she assured her and the others that she could finish all their plates. _

_"I warned you" Katie said laughing as she watched her sister gobble down what was half the content of the second plate in only a few minutes. "She does this with dad and James all the time…this is their little sick game. One time she ate three large pizzas just to get dad to buy her that stupid moped she rode on all the way until the end of Uni…it was ridiculous."_

_"I loved that moped" Emily said with her mouthful. _

_"Oh this is gold" Cook said as he pulled Katie over toward him in an embrace and laughed at his mate Naomi's scared face. _

_"Hey Naomi" He said moving over toward his friend to talk to her closer. "I am no astrologer but I detect some serious lezza-snogging coming up in your near future" _

_"Fuck off" Naomi said furious at herself for having bet Emily that she couldn't eat all of that food in one sitting. The least she had ever thought she'd be doing that morning when she had taken the train from London to Bristol was be on a date and even less with a petit fiery-haired twin with the stomach of a championship sumo wrestler. _

"I miss Uncle Cook" Liam said as she stopped laughing at the story his mum was telling him.

"Me too" Naomi said as she tried pulling a cigarette out to start to smoke but stopping when she saw Emily giving her a disapproving look. The truth was that they all really missed him but all they could do was wait it out. She knew that even Emily, with all that she complained about Cook being a bad influence on Liam missed him as well.

"Katie says he'll be up for parole in December" Emily said trying to cheer up the two blondes sitting right next to her. "At least he might be home for Christmas"

"Yea, but he won't be home for this" Liam said standing up off the bench. "Uncle James is in Afghanistan again, Uncle Cook is in Jail and now you guys are about to sign the divorce. It just feels like we don't even have a family anymore. I don't even know why they insist on doing this anyway. What's the point?"

Naomi and Emily looked at their son and then looked at each other for a bit. They both knew that in a way, despite the fact that it hurt so much, their son was right about what he was saying. The entire ordeal, the whole wedding vow renewal was a bit out of place for all that was happening but they couldn't do much to stop it. Rob and Jenna's 40th anniversary was something they had planned for a few years already and when Jenna (and Katie) planned something it was something that was going to be done no matter what other circumstances arose. Even the worse ones.

"The point is your grandpa is sick and your grams and Aunt Katie have been planning this for a very long time and no matter what is happening we are going to go through with this and you are not gonna complain about it anymore, young man"

This time it was Naomi who had responded to her son and not in the way she usually did. Their entire lives with him she had always been the softy, the one that gave in to all the indulgences and gave him anything he wanted. And the reason for that was not just because she loved him but also because it was utterly impossible for her to deny anything to those big brown eyes that looked so much like the ones she had fallen in love with that night. That same exact night they had been talking about just minutes before with her son. The night she wanted to remember for the rest of her life. The best night of her life.

"_I still can't believe you finished it all" Naomi said shyly as she walked outside the pub into the cool night air. _

_"I still can't believe that was the kiss you gave me after all that food I ate…I think that was worth a lot more than a peck on the lips."_

_"Well, then you should've specified a little bit better Emily…I am sorry the specs on your bet were at fault and that is all you got…maybe next time…"_

_"Next time I am not betting anything with you, because you're a cheater. You know very well I wasn't gonna eat so much food for you to kiss me like this."_

_Without even thinking twice Emily closed the gap between her and blonde and stole another peck on the lips from her. Naomi closed her eyes as she saw Emily approaching and pressed her lips really tight to avoid Emily from kissing her own but before she could even think twice she pulled Emily back into her by the shirt and gave her a proper kiss right on the lips, something the redhead was definitely not expecting. _

_"Christ" Emily said after Naomi kissed her. Her eyes were still closed and she sighed profoundly as the sensation of the blonde's lips still on hers. She didn't want it to end and so she pulled the blonde into her as well and started to kiss her back once more, leaving Naomi a bit breathless. _

_"Christ is right" Naomi said trying to catch her breath and pulling Emily into her and placing her forehead onto hers. _

_They both tried catching their breath together. Naomi tried her best not to close her eyes as she had always felt that this always put her at an unfair disadvantage when kissing someone but this time she couldn't stop herself. All she could do was caress the little redhead's cheek with her thumb and place short kisses on her lips as Emily laughed about what was happening. _

_"You taste like chips and fish strips and…and…"_

_"Lager?" Emily enjoying the way the blonde hadn't been able to stop kissing her even through their conversation. _

_"Heaven" Naomi said pulling her in for a longer kiss as Emily laughed and the blonde caressed her face again. _

_"So you don't regret losing against me in the bet then?" She said cheekily as she pulled her arms around Naomi's neck and remained kissing her. _

_"Losing?" Naomi said with a chuckle as she grabbed on to Emily's bottom. "Does it look like I lost this bet?"_

_"You are worse than your mate" Emily said hitting her on the shoulder and starting to walk away. "This was all a ploy to get me to do whatever you want, isn't it?"_

_"No…" Naomi said trailing after Emily who had started walking in front of her a bit furious. "Emily…please, don't…that's not what I meant. I meant…"_

_"So what did you meant then?" _

_"I just…I…" Naomi could hardly talk because she actually did not know what to say. It wasn't true that she had been playing with Emily or following any type of ploy against her like Cook did to Katie and all the rest of the girls he picked up. She genuinely did not plan any of that and for thought she knew that at any other moment in her life she may have already walked away from all of this (with a girl) for some reason she couldn't stop herself. For some reason this little redheaded twin captivated her and she just couldn't stop herself. _

"Sit down son" She said to him as she pulled him into a hug and kissed his forehead.

"I know this isn't ideal…this isn't what you want. But trust me…" Naomi said looking at Emily who had her hand on top Liam's back and was caressing him like she always did when she was trying to comfort him. "We are gonna try to fix this…we're gonna make it work...somehow."

Naomi looked over one more time at Emily who looked just as defeated as their son did. She knew that no matter how much Emily fought to seem like the hard one in this situation she was falling apart just as well as they all were.

She looked at her well as Emily tried to relay comforting words into their son's ears to prevent him from crying like he had every time it all started to get that loaded. And she looked real well and noticed something she hadn't noticed before, possibly because she was too concentrated on her own pain to notice any one else's. She looked at her ex's thinning face, her dull brown hair and her sadden eyes and she knew that she was the reason for Emily's suffering. She was the reason for her beautiful (once) redheaded twin with the sparkle in her eyes, with the deep raspy voice that drove her insane and the energy and will to drive a million rockets into space was now broken. And with all the resolve she had in her heart she decided it was her job to fix it.


	3. Chapter 3

**To answer your question Sexysacer, I think Naomi is a bit off her game lately with what's happening and maybe in this case (on this day) she's had way too much to drink. Who could blame her though? If I was on the brink of divorce from Emily Fitch I'd be doing just as bad. Thank you for your comment. **

****The reviews, the follows and the reads thank you so much for them. I am very glad you're liking it. Just as I mentioned earlier, I have no beta reader so all mistakes are mine and Skins and (most) characters in this story belong to them. Love your reviews, keep them coming! It helps me write. Now on to chapter 3...****

* * *

3

"So you left it for later?" Katie was standing next to her sister helping her fix the last bit of luggage before they all took off to Glasgow where their parents had decided to retire to after Jenna's mum had passed away a few years prior and left them the house.

"Yes, we both agreed we need him to be okay to make the decision and he's pretty down in the dumps at the moment…"

Katie looked at her sister and knew that Emily worried a lot about Liam and about how everything that had happened in the last few months affected him. She was aware, very aware that her favorite nephew suffered from some of the same things she had sometimes suffered from back in her youth…days of depression in which she sometimes could hardly pull herself together to face the world. And it was because she had Emily that she was able to do it, but she knew in this case Liam had to face this entire thing by himself because both Emily and Naomi were far too stubborn and too intertwined in their constant fighting to notice what they were doing their child.

It was odd for Katie to see that they had let him go so much considering the way their entire story had happened, the way Liam had in one way or another been the reason for them even being together. He was the reason they even became a 'them'

_"So here it is" Emily said as she let go of Naomi's hand and pointed toward her building with a smile on her face. _

_"So this is it?"_

_"Yep" Emily shyly looking at the blonde and then looking back at the building. _

_After Naomi had apologized while they were in front of Fishpond's Emily had somehow ended up convincing her that she was scared of walking to her flat alone at that ungodly hour even though the truth was that Emily actually went out to run most nights around that time and passed through the same streets they were about to trek through all alone with nothing but her ear buds in her ears and her phone on her arm-pouch. _

_But though Emily had accused Naomi of having a ploy for seducing her, the one that was being sneaky and even rather seductive was herself as she tried and did her best to get this blonde girl up to her flat and out of her clothes before the night was over. _

_And it was weird for Emily, so frigging weird to be so assertive about those kinds of things since it had only been three weeks since she had finally fully admitted to herself and to her sister that she was in fact gay. _

_Even if she had spent years battling it in her head, secretly crushing over one or another girl both in college and in Uni…she had always marched back into the comfortable little cave that was heteronormality and had forced herself to be with boys and men who she found inoffensive enough to date. _

_That was until about a year before when she had met Freddy, one of her friend Effy's ex boyfriend's who had started to hit on Katie at the club but had ended up talking to her in the end. Freddy wasn't Katie's type, not by any measure and even less if she knew that Effy Stonem had dated him. For her that only meant loser and for some reason that had eventually translated into Katie pushing this Freddy into dating his sister convincing him that she was the more mild and manageable twin and that she would only cause him loads of trouble. _

_So Emily dated Freddy for a few months, most of which were chaste and rather boring for her but exciting and even a bit expecting for her mother and Katie who hoped to find a suitable man for Emily to marry and forget about her spliffed-up declarations of homosexuality mentioned at the dinner time that time after their 17ths birthday._

_So much had Jenna and Katie pushed the entire Freddy thing on Emily that she had finally given in and allowing her dad to employ him at the gym as his manager and right hand man. _

_It all seemed fine and dandy for all of them, for Jenna and Katie it was erasing Emily's dangerous impeding sexuality, for Freddy a new job, for Rob a son he couldn't see in James (who had become quite the rebel during his teen years) It was all perfect…all except for Emily who was completely miserable and did not know how to live with herself. _

_But despite that fact she did live and for the past two years she had done nothing but deny herself happiness. So now that she was out as gay…and finally actually out with a girl she liked so she was gonna take a chance…she was gonna enjoy it…she was gonna be honest and open and she was gonna be herself. She was gonna bet everything on this and hope she won in the end and in this case…she was about to win. _

_"So…I guess then this is goodnight" Naomi said letting go of Emily's hand and then placing a rather chaste kiss on her lips. Emily did not hesitate on pulling Naomi down to her by her neck and starting to kiss her more passionately than before, something that made Naomi almost roar with desire. _

_"Or maybe you could come up with me and I can show you my…um…fish aquarium"_

_"You have a fish aquarium?"_

"We are ready to go, love" Emily walked outside of the room and found her son standing in front of the aquarium threading his finger through the glass as one of his fishes followed through with him.

"I think I am gonna stay…someone has to feed Ringo and boys…" Liam said looking at his fish and the lot of them swimming around in the tank after some food he had just deposited from above.

"Ringo is gonna be fine" Emily said taking the fish food away from her son and pulling him by the hand. "Effy is gonna pass by and feed the fish and Jagger every day while we are at this thing…so no worries."

"How come she doesn't have to go to this thing? She should have to…"

"No she shouldn't…this is for family only."

"She's family…"

Emily hated to admit it to herself even then, but technically Effy was family to him even if she wanted to deny it.

"Alright, let's not get into technicalities here….the point is she's gonna be coming over to feed them and we will only be a few days and then we will get back to normal…"

"Normal?" Liam said a bit upset. "We're never gonna be back to normal…even less after we come back from Glasgow."

"Liam please…can we just drop it for a minute" Emily said desperate with the insistence of her son on bringing the issue up at every single chance that he could. Sometimes she wished he wasn't so stubborn, that he wasn't so moany…just as moany and stubborn as Naomi…almost as if he had been born right out of her.

"Come on Liam…mind what your mum says…you guys ready to go?"

Naomi's voice from behind the front door startled Emily. She knew that her ex was going to be waiting for them so that they can travel on their last trip together 'as a family' but she did not realize that meant Naomi coming up back into their flat and meeting them there.

"Jagger, down boy"

And of course her voice only made for the entire house to spin around at the sight of her, their son going over toward her and hugging her while the dog ran over to her jumping up toward her as if she had giant pieces of pork chops hanging from her hands.

"Jagger!" Emily yelled at the dog through his barking as it upset her to see them three scrunched up into a hug on the floor of the flat that was now officially just hers again.

_"Wow, you have a really nice flat" Naomi said as she walked along side some of the mantle and saw the pictures that Emily had posted all over her house. "these are really nice"_

_"Thanks" Emily said as she walked back from the kitchen into the living room with two glasses in her hands. She handed one to Naomi, who took it from her and smiled as she sat down on the armchair right near where she'd been standing and then watched as the little redhead opted to ignore the couch and any other chair in her flat and sat right at the arm of the chair where the blonde had decided to sit. She couldn't help but lick her lips at the sight of Emily right by her side. _

_"So you're a photographer or something? Because of the photos"_

_"That's a hobby…I love travelling and taking pictures but it's not what I do." Emily said brushing her hand around the chair where Naomi sat. _

_"What is it that you do then?_

_""I am a chef…actually" Emily said taking the glass away from Naomi who had practically chugged her drink out of pure nervousness. "A pastry chef"_

_"A chef?" Naomi said laughing. "No wonder" _

_"No wonder what?" _

_"No wonder you could eat so much…you do it for living" _

_"I don't eat for a living…even though obviously I could if I wanted to. I actually am more than a pastry chef…I am a cake decorator." She said putting her drink down on the coffee table next to Naomi's empty glass. _

_"So what does that mean?" Naomi said looking straight at her and smiling. _

_"I make them beautiful…the cakes I mean."_

_"I think you make everything beautiful" Naomi said as she pulled herself up off the chair and took Emily by the chin and kissed her softly. _

"You got everything?" Naomi said as she loaded the rest of the items that Emily and Liam were bringing along with them to Glasgow right next to her small bag on the boot of the car. Emily had a million things she needed to bring because her mum had asked her to decorate the cake for their anniversary party. It had been years, almost 10 since the Fitch girls worked together to arrange a party of this capacity.

After Jenna retired from their wedding planning company and Katie had decided to live with Cook, the company had dissolved and Emily had started to work on her own and her business had taken off. Emily was talented, way too talented to have worked for so long exclusively with her mum's business and suddenly Emily's cakes had become a brand of their own and she had gone from a housewife/mum/part-time cake decorator to a full-time entrepreneur and cake designer with clients in all parts of the UK asking her for projects left and right.

And at first this had been a great thing for their family. Emily's business meant more income and it meant that Naomi could start to work less and be home more, but for some reason this switch in their dynamic had surged something…it had done something to them.

Suddenly things had changed too rapidly and now Emily was sort of in charge of sustenance and Naomi was home with Liam and they just didn't know how to do that. They started to fall apart. And it wasn't fair…it was completely unfair that it all happened because if there was any family that loved each other more than anything in the world it was those three. So seeing them silently driving through the highway for so many hours each lost in their own thoughts as road and cars and people and the world rode on by was completely disheartening. It was the worse sight anyone ever saw.


	4. Chapter 4

**I am sorry I did not notice how short chapter 3 actually was until I just posted it (I gotta get used to this) so I decided it was a good idea to post this chapter as well. It is only fair. Once again thank you for reading. Here is chapter 4, too. **

* * *

4

"Naomi darling"

It had never been usual of Jenna Fitch to treat her blonde daughter-in-law with kindness but after what she had found out from Katie a few weeks before she had decided she was going to try her best to salvage some of the damage she had caused between her youngest daughter and her wife.

Jenna had to admit that throughout the years, despite the fact that Naomi had proved to be well beyond the best one of all her children's partners she had always treated her a bit ruefully, especially in the last few years when she knew Emily no longer 'needed' to be with Naomi to support herself and her child.

So for Naomi and for Emily it was unusual to see Jenna act so kind toward the blonde and she even went on to inquire about why the sudden change of heart toward Naomi.

"What did Katie tell you?" She whispered to her mum in her ear as she leant in for a kiss to salute her.

"Nothing dearie…" She said fixing her pompous salt-and-pepper bun as she walked toward her grandson and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Look at this one…you grow three inches every time I see you…at this rate you'll be able to try out for basketball or something…"

"I am just as tall as last time gram" Liam said a bit annoyed as he helped both his mums pull out the rest of the items from the car and started to walk inside the house where his grandfather had been told to wait.

Rob wasn't the man he used to be. Things hadn't gone so well in the last few years and he had had a serious of heart issues that kept him under dutiful watch from Jenna on what he ate, what he did and what he was told.

So when Jenna found out about Emily and Naomi she had begged Katie to convince them that telling Rob the news of the divorce right after they found out about James leaving again and about Cook going to jail wasn't the best option.

So essentially, Naomi and Emily were in Glasgow with Liam to play a little charade of happy family in front of Rob so that he felt that at least there was one part of his family that wasn't falling apart.

But as soon as he saw them he knew. Rob wasn't stupid. He knew as soon as he saw his grandson's foul mood and his daughter and daughter-in-law's long faces that something was going on.

"You okay love?" He said catching his daughter's face in his hands and trying to look at her straight in the eyes before he pulled her into one of his signature Fitch hugs.

"We're fine" Emily said almost implying with her tone that they weren't in fact fine, they weren't fine at all.

"Do you need help with the last bits in the car?"

"No grandpa, we're good" Liam said as he walked over toward an elder Rob Fitch and hugged him sweetly. "How you feeling?"

"I am fit as a horse, lad…you know me…not fit but…"

"Fitched" Liam said a bit more enthusiastically than he had been before when he was in the car with his parents. Truth was he loved and admired his grandfather and being near him…even during this bad situation put him at ease.

This is why at his young age he had understood the reason why he had to play coy at what was happening with his mothers and he had agreed to pretend all was fine. The least he ever wanted was for his grandpa to be affected. The least he wanted was to lose someone else he loved, especially someone he loved so dearly.

"My favorite daughter-in-law" Rob went on and hugged Naomi clumsily.

"I am your only one old man" Naomi said laughing.

The blonde was never much of a hugger, thought through the years she'd gotten used to her father-in-law being excessively affectionate she was in a bit of an off mode right now. She wasn't expecting anyone to wanna hug her, though if she was truthful with herself she needed one right now more than she had in quite a while.

She laughed as Rob questioned her on the loss of her footie team against his and then told her about his golf game. Emily tried her best not to shed a tear at watching those two…or rather those three (Liam had joined to rue against his mother's team along with his grandfather) hitting it off so well. I pained her to know that soon something like this wasn't gonna exist. She knew deep down inside that all three of them needed (and enjoyed) this interaction and for a second there she worried about her ex...was she gonna be able to handle being so alone? No Cook, no family...Gina wasn't much company as she had taken to randomly fly out on a moments notice to any place that needed her for a rally after retirement. Liam was all Naomi really had left. Enveloped in thought, she made her way to the kitchen with her mum and silently put away some of the items she had brought to decorate her parent's cake.

They small talked for a bit, Jenna and Emily did…but after only a few minutes of it the elder Fitch had no choice but to start the topic she'd been wondering about for weeks now.

"So when is it happening?"

"When is what happening?"

"When are you signing it? Katie says you couldn't do it yesterday because Liam was upset…"

"I don't know…I guess when we go back we'll just make an appointment with the lawyers and we do it there…We had planned on doing it at Keith's…"

"That God-awful excuse for a pub?"

"Mum…we did it there because we wanted to take Liam to a place where he felt comfortable and you know how he feels about that place…reminds him of Cook and…"

"Please Emily; don't bring that person up in my presence…"

"Oh for God's sake mum…just because Cook made a mistake doesn't make him less of a person…you can't just shun him out of our lives as if he never existed."

"To me he's dead…"

"But he isn't dead…he's in jail and he's be out by the end of the year and then him and Katie will sort it out…"

"Don't be so sure…"

"What? Why? You know Katie still loves him…he's still her husband, he's still Hanna's dad…"

"No, he isn't…you know very well he's not her dad…"

"What? What are you saying that just because Cook isn't Hanna's biological dad he isn't her dad now?"

"I am saying that we can manage…we can arrange something to fix that in the paperwork…maybe revoke or change the adoption papers somehow so that Katie is the only parent and so that my daughter can move on from that God-awful man she decided to involve herself with.."

"No! You can't…don't tell me Katie is thinking of doing that…or is that you putting ideas into her head? Crazy ideas…"

"They aren't crazy...I've talked it over it with our legal team and it's possible to argue that that…hoodlum…"

"Cook, your son-in-law"

"That hoodlum…" Jenna went on saying, ignoring Emily's comment. "…is a bad influence on Hanna and this may be grounds for being able to take full custody of her or possibly even take him off the adoption papers since they were only finalized a month ago and she had only interacted with him for a few months before then."

"Holy fuck…you've thought of everything, haven't you? So what now Katie is going through with this nonsense? You're gonna leave Cook off by himself during the single most horrible time of his life because he made a small mistake…"

"Money Laundering isn't a small mistake darling…it's a serious crime"

"Well you sure as hell didn't see it as a crime when he bought you that cruise around the world for your anniversary last year, did you?"

"I didn't know…"

"And the houses, the trips, the parties…all of it…all of it paid by that hoodlum and that crook…you enjoyed it all…all of you did and now you're pushing her to turn her back on him like he's a piece of rubbish…"

"I don't even know why you care…you never liked him either…you always though he was a bad influence on your family…why are you defending him now?"

_"That friend of yours is really something else, isn't he?"_

_"Yes, he is…he's over the top but he has his heart in the right place."_

_They talked like that for a bit or maybe more than just a bit. Neither of them wanted to move or make any changes of the position they were in. After Naomi had started to kiss Emily, the pull of it had moved her so that she was sitting on Naomi's lap now and that position was way too comfortable for them both. So after a fair amount of some really heated snogging they had resorted to chatting about the night while still stealing a few kisses here and there from time to time. _

_"I am glad his heart told him it'd be a good idea to set us up…if he had set me up with any of his other mates I may have been sitting in this very sofa, with my remote in my hands and a boat of ice cream watching re-runs of some awful medical drama or something of that sort…" Emily said as she pulled both her arms around the blonde and kissed her softly. _

_"You got ice cream?"_

"Liam" Emily said as she placed her hands on her face and tried to avert her eyes away from her son who had just witness her yelling at his grandmother.

"Sorry, didn't mean to barge…mum and grandpa wanted to see about some ice cream…we're all hungry."

"Tell that old man he has had his sweets for today so no more ice cream…we'll have some dessert with dinner. We just gotta wait for your Auntie Katie and Hanna to get here."

"We're here" Katie said as she walked into the large kitchen with her baby daughter in her arms.

"Hanna Banana" Liam said picking his cousin up from his aunt's arms and pulling her up in the air to Hanna's utter amusement.

"Liam please be careful with her…don't…Liam…"

"It's okay Em, he does this to her all the time…" Naomi said walking into the kitchen with Rob trailing right behind.

"What happened with that ice cream we were promised, boy?" she said to her son as she approached him and took Hanna away from his arms and started to pull her up and kiss her belly.

Emily's heart fluttered at the sight of them, of both of them playing with the baby and thinking back at how many times both Liam and Naomi had asked her to have another baby. As she saw them so happily playing with Hanna she wasn't sure if her refusal of it had been a good or bad idea. Could another baby made things better between them or maybe worse? Was it fair to bring another child into a marriage that was crumpling at its roots and do the same thing to him and her as they had been doing to Liam for all those months now?

"Grams says we can't have any dessert until after dinner, mum" Liam said handing his cousin back to his Aunt Katie and walking out of the kitchen along with her and his grandfather.

"Do you need help with dinner?" Naomi offered Jenna, well-knowing her mother-in-law would never allow her near the kitchen because until this day she was an awful cook.

"It's okay dear, thank you" Jenna said as she caressed her daughter-in-law's back sweetly and then started pulling vegetables out of the pantry to start dinner. "You go on and have fun with the lot of them…I'll be okay here on my own. Both of you…"

Naomi looked at Emily with a confused face both at Jenna's displays of affection toward Naomi and at the sadden tone of her voice. Emily returned the look back to Naomi as if to tell her she wasn't sure what was happening though she did have an idea of what could be happening and she needed to apologize for what she had just said to her mum.

"Go on babe" she said to Naomi, completely forgetting that they were past terms of endearment at this point of their relationship. "I'll help mum out with dinner…you go keep them entertained."

Naomi's stomach sunk and her eyes closed for a second upon hearing Emily's sweet tone and those words…that word she hadn't hear in so long. If she had been stronger and more brave she may have forgotten Jenna was in the room and ran over to her ex and just kissed her senselessly just because those three words were almost a beacon of hope…a tiny spec of a miracle in the vast sea of darkness. They were a sign that deep inside…very very deep inside Emily, Naomi was still that person she'd fallen for. She was still her love. She was still her babe.

_"So they call you Emsy and then your grandfather calls you smurfie and so what should I call you?" Naomi said caressing the redhead's lips with her thumb. _

_"You can call me whatever you want babe, as long as you keep on kissing me this way you can call me anything you want."_


	5. Chapter 5

**Oh I am so glad everyone is liking it and for your comments, thanks a bunch! I am glad you're like the older Naomily couple just as well as their younger versions. ****I felt like we've seen a lot of stories with Naomily as youngsters or just after college or uni but not enough of them a little bit older and with older children.**

**As far as the topic of divorce, it is kind of a bit of homage to the recently new marriage law in the UK (and hoping for this same full-on equality in other places like my country) and also a reminder that even though we get the right to marry doesn't make everything a fairytale and that our marriages can also fall apart just like any other (And affect everyone around us).**

**Hopefully (this) Naomily proves us differently and that in the end they do make it. Let's see where it goes. Here comes chapter 5. **

**Reminder: As always, I have no beta so all mistakes are mine and all these characters (except for Liam and now Hanna) belong to Skins and not to me. Enjoy! **

* * *

5

"Dinner is ready" Emily came out of the kitchen and smiled a bit at watching Liam and Katie playing a game on the Wii while Rob held his granddaughter Hanna in his arms and Naomi lay her head on his shoulder lightly.

"Two more minutes mum, I am wiping the floor with her" Liam said almost out of breath as she felt his aunt push him to the side a bit so he could lose his balance and start to laugh.

"You wish...I used to be a champion at this…even against your worm of an uncle who was awful pathetic at this considering all the time he spent in front of it playing."

"Are you people EVER gonna stop calling me a worm? Don't I deserve a little respect? I am a British naval officer for Christ's sake"

"Uncle James!" Liam ran over to his uncle who he hadn't seen in months and pulled him into a hug while they all stood up at the sight of him.

"What are you doing here?" Emily said running toward her brother and pulling her son and herself into a three-way hug while she saw the rest of the crowd running toward him. "Thought you said you weren't gonna make it"

"It was a surprise, I was able to get them to give me leave for a bit so that I can come to this thing and see you before my second tour. I told mum and dad."

"We weren't expecting you until tomorrow lad, you almost gave this old man another heart attack" Rob said taking his son in his arms as well and kissing him on top of his head.

"I couldn't find an earlier flight so me and a couple of the boys rented out a car and just decided to drive up…loads of fun but never recommended after so many hours I am knackered and famished at that…when do we eat?"

After a few more hugs and kisses for James they all sat down to eat in the dinner room table that the Fitches had bought especially for their extended family get-togethers. Rob and James sat at the heads of the table while Jenna sat next to Katie who had Hanna up in a baby seat in between them, the chair next to her was empty (for Cook) and on the other side where Emily always sat next to Liam with Naomi there were two chairs next to each other.

"Liam, don't you belong in the middle?" Emily said as she sat next to her dad and left the middle chair open for Naomi who didn't know where to sit.

"Yea, but I wanna sit next to Uncle James so he can tell me about Afghanistan…I haven't talked to him in ages."

Naomi blushed and looked at both the middle chair next to Emily and the empty seat on the other side next to Katie and then looked at Rob who seemed confused as to why she hadn't taken a seat. She placed her plate down on the table in front of the chair that her son usually occupied and then ran over to the kitchen with an excuse about a missing fork to try to calm herself. For some reason all this pretending made her very nervous.

"That's weird, I placed the utensils all myself…they should all be there…I even added the extra spoon in case"

"It's alright Jenna, I think you're just distracted by the load of people flooding your house…happens to all of us."

Jenna looked at Naomi and then back a Rob who was slurping his soup looking completely unaware of the tension on the table and then smiled and went on to ask James about his flights.

They talked like that for a while, like normal…like a regular family having dinner together as if nothing else was going on. Liam joked with his Uncle James and his Aunt Katie an awful lot and mentioned his plan on possibly going to the world cup finals with his Uncle Cook once he came back home. Cook had promised him, the last time he had written him that they'd go together to make up for missing their Sunday afternoons they ussually spent together.

Ever since he was very little, Cook, Liam and his dad would all gathered around to either play or watch the games they'd missed during the week or that were on at that time. They'd have their 'boys time' and Naomi and Emily would have time for themselves which they rarely got after Liam was born. They'd go out for dinner or even just stay in and just be with one another. It was something that seemed boring to anyone else that wasn't them both but that they truly enjoyed. During the time they were together they just adored being with one another.

That's why it was hard to see them now, worlds apart…even doubting if sitting next to one another was okay because before this had all happened, they had never been able to be pulled apart for long. Even from the beginning, even from the first day it was as if they stuck to each other like glue and never wanted to let go ever again.

_"Oh God" Naomi's hand wasn't under her voluntary control any more. It was as if it had a life of its own as her trembling fingers felt Emily's skin appear right from underneath that short skirt that the little redhead was wearing. _

_Emily smiled cheekily and moved the blonde's hand up her leg a bit more until the tip of her knickers and then pulled herself up on top of her and opened her legs to straddle her and remain kissing her. _

_"Oh God" Naomi said again, unable to utter any other words as Emily took her other hand and pulled her to the other side of her bottom and asked her to touch her. _

_What had been up to now just a bit of snogging and some flirty talk had suddenly turned into a lot more and Naomi's temperature was raising an awful lot with every passing second of this. She'd never felt like that; never felt this exhilaration and this complete and utter explosion of emotions with anyone else she had been with, even less a girl. _

_But then again she had nothing to compare it to, because up to now she had only really been with men (who hadn't excited her very much) and the only girl she ever had a crush on turned out to be very married and very straight and that had only pushed her over the edge toward heterosexuality as she had to quit a job to save herself from feeling embarrassment at having told her co-worker Carole how she felt about her during a drunken outing. _

_Now it was all different, now it was her and Emily…this amazingly sexy, sweet, gentle, fiery redhead who kept on moving on top of her sensually, causing her sensations she'd never felt before. So the only words that could ever come out of her mouth were religious pleas because though she had been a full-on atheist all the way up to this point she had to admit that having Emily Fitch making a trail of kisses down her neck and caressing her hardened nipples under her brassier had to be some sort of religious experience. It had to be proof that there was more to earth than just that. She had to for sure be in heaven. _

_"Oh God" Emily said pulling herself rapidly off of Naomi and then running over toward her bedroom in a rush. _

_"What happened?" Naomi said a bit worried and a lot more embarrassed as she didn't know exactly what had happened. _

_She put on her shirt back on rapidly and ran over toward Emily's bedroom where she found the door of the bathroom closed and heard noises she wasn't sure she wanted to hear. _

_"Don't come in" Emily yelled out in between awful noises as Naomi pressed her lips in a bit of disgust at the thought. _

_"You okay in there?" Naomi said worried about both wanting to come in to rescue her beautiful damsel in distress and at the same time having the urge to run far away as she knew that her stomach was weak and would probably not be able to take hearing any more of what was going on inside. _

_For a bit there was more noise and then a flush to the toilet and silence and that only prompted Naomi to run over toward Emily's kitchen and fetch her a glass a water. It was what her mum always did when she was sick. _

_She opened the door to the bathroom, braving having to see something that could potentially make her sick as well and when she did her heart almost melted at the sight of the little redheaded twin doubled over against the toilet with her head resting on her arms and her back resting against the shower doors. _

_"I brought you some water" She said in a tweak of a voice almost apologizing for barging in to a moment that felt a bit too intimate to her. "My mum always brings me water when I get sick. I don't know why but it helps."_

_She saw Emily look up still looking a bit pale and for some reason, instead of wanting to run away she felt like she needed to run up to her and pick her up in her arms and take her to the bed and just hold her for a very long time. But she didn't do that, instead she sat down in front of her and offered her the glass of water as if it was a peace offering from an offending tribe and watched her drink it down a bit and then hand it back to her. _

_"You feeling better?" Naomi said as she caressed Emily's face with her thumb. _

_"Not much" Emily said taking a deep breath. "I am still awful dizzy…I think maybe I really did eat too much"_

_Naomi smiled, though she felt bad about smiling, but she did because that only reminded her of the night they had just had and the bet and how Emily had eaten so much just to get a kiss from her. __In a way she felt a bit like this was her fault for not just kissing the redhead properly since the first moment she saw her (which was when knew she wanted to kiss her, from the very first moment they met). Instead she'd allowed this to happen. She allowed for Emily to bet her and now she was sick and this was all her fault._

_"Why don't I take you to bed?" Naomi said standing up and offering her hand to pull Emily up from the floor. _

_"As much as I wish I could…I don't think I'd be able to continue…"_

_"No…" Naomi said with a chuckle. "Not for that silly…you need to lie down and see if that helps the dizziness"_

_"Oh" Emily said as she felt herself blush at her own mind. "Right"_

_Naomi helped her up and then took her by the waist all the way to the bed and helped her lay down. _

_"Let's get you out of these and into something more comfy…where do you keep your pyjamas?"_

_"I don't wear pyjamas" Emily said in a bit of an embarrassed tone."I sleep naked"_

_"O…K…" Naomi said even more embarrassed than the redhead trying her best not to get caught imagining what that may look like right now. Funny thing was that Naomi didn't wear pyjamas either. _

_"I'll just wear a long shirt and my knickers" Emily said biting her lips as she saw Naomi's face turn from pale to bright red in a matter of seconds. "Hand me one of the big ones on the second drawer."_

_Naomi walked over to where Emily pointed and pulled out a shirt and showing it to Emily who approved. Then she almost tripped over her feet when trying to avert her eyes as Emily pulled both her shirt and her brassier off and pulled on the big shirt on her. After that she went on to pull off her skirt and then threw it all at Naomi who was now fixating on a spec of dirt on the ceiling on Emily's bedroom as if she was trying to clinically analyze the molecular structure of it with her eyes. _

_"Put those under there" Emily said pointing at her clothes hamper and then staring at Naomi who had the redhead's bra in her hand and then jumped when she saw Emily smiling at her cheekily. She placed the items where Emily told her and then brought the remainder of the water and placed it on the night table and went to kiss the redhead on the forehead to bid her goodnight and leave, but Emily stopped her before she could say anything. _

_"Can't you stay?" Emily said as she took Naomi's hand into hers and looked her with dowey-eyes. "I am still now feeling well."_

_Naomi bit her lip because for some reason she was sure she was never gonna be able to resist giving this girl anything she wanted as long as she looked at her the way she was at that moment. _

_"Of course…I'll be on the sofa then"_

_"No" Emily said pulling Naomi in to sit next to her on the bed. "Stay here…with me." _

_Naomi bit her lip once more and then pushed her shoes off of her and moved right into the bed next to Emily who wiggled around and then pulled the duvet up to cover them both. _

_"You okay right there?" Emily said looking at her for a minute. Naomi nodded because she was too nervous to do anything else. _

_"Good" Emily said moving herself toward Naomi's side and then pushing her body underneath her right arm. She felt Naomi stiffen at first but then after a bit she relaxed into Emily's embrace and actually placed a small kiss on top of the redhead's head…something that made Emily smile profusely. _

_She was going to say something, Naomi was…but for some reason she had no words at the moment. There were no words for what she was feeling right then and there. She felt like this could be where she belonged. _

_"Good night babe" Emily said softly and then snuggled into the blonde even further and closed her eyes immediately. _

_"Goodnight" Naomi said in the faintest of voices and then closed her eyes herself and fell asleep. _

_It was the best sleep she'd ever had in her entire life. _


	6. Chapter 6

**Sometimes you belong with someone but this doesn't mean you get to be with them, does it? **

**Anyway...I am very happy when I look at the views as well as when you comment at seeing that you are following the story and that you like it. Thank you for your following once again. **

**Reminder: Skins doesn't belong to me. The mistakes are mine though, no beta here. On to Chapter 6...**

* * *

_6_

"Where's Liam?" Naomi said to Emily as she walked into the room they'd all be sharing for their last weekend as a family.

"He said he wanted to sleep in James' room…something about having to tell him about a girl or whatever…"

"Abby?" Naomi said as she looked around the room for the pull out bed Jenna had promised she'd have for Liam to sleep in. "I guess things are getting serious with her."

"Abby?" Emily said a bit furious, not at Naomi but rather at herself for not knowing about a girl her son fancied even after he'd been living with her alone for weeks without Naomi.

"Yea, from guitar class…didn't he tell you…"

"No, he hasn't told me anything…he hardly speaks to me and you know it." Emily said walking over to Naomi and standing in front of her so that she can stop opening and closing all the drawers and doors in the room. "And what in the hell do you think you are doing?"

"Jesus, chill out Emsy…I am looking for the spare bed…or the blow up mattress…whatever it was that your mum said she'd leave for Liam to sleep in."

"He took it with him" Emily said furiously closing the door to the wardrobe that Naomi had opened and starting to walk toward the bed. "And stop calling me that…"

"Calling you what?" Naomi said confused not remembering what she had called her.

"Emsy…only my family calls me that."

Naomi's eyes immediately filled with tears and her throat closed up at the way her ex was talking to her. But she turned around immediately so that Emily couldn't see her.

"I am sorry…I just…"

"Just what?"

"Nothing…I forget sometimes… I am sorry Emily" Naomi said pulling herself into her usual side of the bed under the duvet.

Emily stood there for a minute feeling awful guilty at having yelled at Naomi so harshly about something so dumb. She was frustrated, she was tired and she was annoyed at having to deal with all of this and she just wanted it all to end.

She missed the ways things were before…how easy it all was when it was her and Naomi and Liam. When he was very little and all the way until just a few years before he'd sleep between them in that same bed. Her mum would usually prepare him the spare bed but two minutes after he was in it both him and Naomi would give her the puppy-dog face so that he could sleep between them. She couldn't say no to that (both because they were awfully cute and because she loved cuddling up with them in the bed herself.)

She loved coming over her parents' house every few of months for the weekend because it meant she was with the people she loved the most all day and then got to cuddle up with her two loves the entire night in that same bed.

She laid on the other side of the bed from Naomi who was facing her and had to close her eyes from the tears that were starting to flood. For a minute she felt like caressing her face with her thumb and moving closer to her. She felt like wiping the tears that were obviously falling down her ex's face away with a million kisses just like she used to do every time they'd fight. But this wasn't just any particular fight, this was more than that. This was the end of it all and to her it felt like there was no stopping it anymore. Why couldn't they work it out? Why did they let it get this far? If there was so much love between them both…if there was always so much tenderness…where had all that gone?

_"Good morning beautiful" _

_Naomi felt Emily's thumb caressing her cheek as she opened her eyes and saw those big chocolate-colored orbs staring back at her sweetly. _

_"Good morning" She answered smiling. This may be the best way to wake up she'd ever experience in her short life. _

_"Did you sleep well?" Emily said kissing Naomi slightly on the lips as the blonde moved a bit and pulled the redhead over on top of her a bit more. _

_"Better than ever" _

_Naomi went to kiss the redhead, because even if they had just woken up and they both looked an awful mess and smelled the part this redhead was completely irresistible and she couldn't help herself. But just as Naomi went to pull Emily up to kiss her more deeply Emily pulled up off of her quickly, again. _

_"Oh no" Emily said as she jumped up off the bed and ran to the bathroom. _

_"Jesus" Naomi said as she ran over toward the bathroom and then had to turn around as she watched Emily throw up all over the floor. _

_"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry you had to see that." Emily said apologetically as she covered her face with the palm of her hands and tried to move around to find something to clean the bathroom with. _

_"Come here" Naomi said pulling Emily out of the mess and sitting her on the bed. "Lie down; I'll take care of this…"_

_"No, Naomi…oh my gosh…please don't"_

_Naomi didn't listen to anything. She walked over toward the kitchen and looked everywhere until she found some cleaning items and came over to the bathroom and cleaned it up. Then she looked in the kitchen again for something for Emily to take and when she did she brought it over to her. _

_"Here's some tea, this might help. I think we really did a number on your stomach last night, didn't we?" Naomi said kneeling in front of Emily who sat on the bed with her legs on the floor. _

_"We?" Emily said pulling Naomi toward her between her legs and hugging her. _

_"You ate all that awful pub food just to prove a point…and I let you."_

_"I could've stopped…you know…" She said drinking a bit more tea. "I just wanted to kiss you…I wanna kiss you now."_

_"_Mum" Liam ran into the room early that morning to show his parents what had just happened in the living room a few minutes prior.

He stopped short and stayed quiet for a bit minute at the sight of his mums lying on the bed spooning each other and his heart sunk for a minute at what he was seeing.

"Liam" said Naomi unaware of where she really was, something that woke up Emily who was until then comfortably lying in her soon-to-be ex-wife's arms.

Emily pulled away almost immediately leaving Naomi's head still spinning as she was always a bit shit at waking up properly.

Liam's eyes dropped to the floor as he saw Emily's face sour up and Naomi get up off the bed almost immediately and head out to the bathroom.

"What happened?" Emily said with a bit of a morning voice.

"Hanna started walking" Liam explained as she moved over toward where his other mum had just been lying and sat playing with the pillow. "She probably stopped already…Uncle James got it on video."

He got up off the bed as he watched Naomi come out of the bathroom to ask what had happened. He explained it to her as well and then saw the way neither of his mums could look at one another and his hopes for a reconciliation bounced away like a tumbleweed from his heart.

"Gram said Aunt Katie will be making breakfast…I think I better go see if I can help or something."

Emily got up off the bed and started walking to the bathroom herself, neither of them wanted to talk about what had happened the night before. But in both their minds the night prior wasn't erased and they both couldn't stop thinking about it.

_"I am still your family, even if you rather I wouldn't be" Naomi said after catching her breath a bit and calming herself down. Least she wanted to do was cry in front of Emily because this only made her seem like she was even more weak than the brunette thought. _

_"Only for a few more days" Emily answered starting to get upset again at the way Naomi was talking to her. _

_"That's where you're wrong…even if you fucking hate my guts, if you detest me, if you never wanna see me again in your life I'll always be your family Emily Fitch…because we have a son together, whether you like it or not I'm bound to you for life…so if I wanna call you Emsy I will call you Emsy…or whatever the hell I wanna call you…alright?"_

_Naomi wasn't expecting it at all but when it happened she thought maybe her world had just tumbled backwards. Emily didn't let her go on with her rant because before Naomi could utter another word she started to kiss her so desperately that you'd think they'd both been drowning without each other and the kisses were just the oxygen they needed. And maybe they were. _

_"Em, I think we should talk first" Naomi tried to say but Emily wouldn't let her. She pulled herself right on top of the blonde and started to remove her shirt until Naomi had the right mind to stop her. _

_"Emily" She said pulling the shirt back onto Emily's body and moving up to sit. Emily pressed her eyes and placed her hands on her face and started to apologize but Naomi stopped her. _

_"You know we can't do it this way anymore…we can't just shag tonight and then wake up tomorrow back to the same awful row that never ends…this hasn't helped us in the past and it won't help us this time either."_

_Naomi removed Emily's hands off her face so the brunette could look at her. _

_"I know" Emily answered with tears in her eyes. _

_Naomi couldn't help but pull her ex over toward her into a hug. Emily, who was still sitting on her leant in on the blonde's neck and surrounded her with her arms. Naomi held on to her for dear life as if she would never ever get the chance to do this again. And maybe she never would. _

_After all, this was the last time they might be together this close-by and this could be the last time she'd get to hold on to the woman she'd adored from the first moment and for every other moment that past right after that. For what it was worth, Naomi had never stopped loving her. Naomi had never stopped wanting her, desiring her, she'd never stop wanting to have her family back and if it was all up to her this entire thing would end in a second. But it wasn't. _

_That's why, even though this wasn't exactly the sanest idea in the world she allowed Emily to hold on to her that way. Even if it left her heart fill with hope and even if feeling Emily's button-nose lightly touching the crease of her neck was filling her stomach full of butterflies. Even if she wished they could stay this close forever. Even if she knew at the rate they were going this was the last she'd ever get of this, Naomi did not pull away or back down. Because to her hugging the tiny, stubborn, fiery, preciously annoying, beautiful, sensual and amazing woman was her heaven. She knew that if she died at that exact moment she'd be content for the rest of all eternity. So she held on to her for the entire night. Even if this was the last time…Emily was in her arms again and nothing else mattered. All that mattered was that she was close to her and nothing more_


	7. Chapter 7

**I feel the same way as you guys do about the way this whole thing is affecting Liam. Being a child of divorced parents who don't love each other is bad enough, I can't imagine being the child of these two who are obviously still in love but can't deal with whatever it is that happened. I think in a way it's even worse, because when something is wrong and has no way of fixing itself you sort of mourn it and accept it but then when you have this ray of sunshine or a spec of hope that could be even more painful. It's the uncertainty that kills. **

**Here is chapter 7...thank for liking it, thanks for commenting (love your comments, it really does help me write) and thanks for following. I don't have a beta, mistakes are mine and Skins and the characters don't belong to me...etc...etc...etc...**

* * *

7

_"_What are you doing here alone, son?"

Rob Fitch had always been an early riser, though lately it took him a little longer to wake up but for some reason that night everything inside of him stirred too much and before dawn he was up and walking around the estate that his mum-in-law had left him and Jenna.

To his surprise as he walked by a fountain where no one ever sat anymore, he found his grandson looking out into the middle of nowhere as if watching for ships about to come ashore.

"Nothing" Liam answered with a sad voice, though the truth was that he had ran away from the house because what he had seen between his mums affected him way too much and he needed some air to breath. For months now, ever since the fighting had started to get worse Liam had experienced that same feeling as though he was losing all the oxygen from his body and that his heart might explode.

At first it had been easier to just cry and let it out, but lately he felt as though even crying didn't help that feeling at all and so that morning he took to running as far as he could away from the house so nobody saw him, especially his grandfather.

"You must've really been running fast from something if you got all the way over here from the house in under two minutes son."

Rob wasn't dumb and he could detect from the rapid breathing and flushed face that his grandson had that he had to be running at a very fast speed, though he still couldn't understand the reason for all that running.

"How do you even know that?" Liam answered a bit upset at being found out so fast by his grandfather; the only person that wasn't supposed to know anything that was going on but for some reason always knew it all.

"Do you know how many people I've seen in that same state of desperation about a long trek up a hill, boy? Don't forget that's what I did for a living. Now are you gonna tell me why it is you felt like you needed to run away from the house that fast or am I gonna have to take a guess at it myself?"

Liam looked down at the floor for quite a bit without knowing where to start. He wanted, no, he needed to find the perfect way to explain this entire thing to his grandfather without causing any harm. But though this was an extremely hard task to achieve for a young boy his age, for some reason Liam had grown up very quickly in the last year or so….ever since the entire thing had started he had no other choice but to face up to it all practically by himself.

Naomi and Emily had left him alone with his pain, with their constant bickering and their petty fights about things that in other circumstance would've never mattered. So he had manned-up to it alone, but as he looked up and saw the reassurance of his grandfather's great big eyes he knew that maybe he didn't have to be so alone after all.

"They're getting a divorce" he said assuming his grandfather already knew who he was referring to.

Rob nodded and sat down well aware that his suspicions were true but also a bit upset at the fact that this had gone so far and he hadn't been able to do anything to stop it. He hated that, he hated how Jenna and the kids treated him with silk gloves lately and how in a matter of a few months he had gone from being the person they all came to for help (even Cook, after all he had done had come to Rob for help in deciding whether to turn himself in or flee from the law that was so close to finding out what he had been doing with his business.) Now Rob felt like equivalent of another old piece of furniture, broken and forgotten. He hated it and he needed to put a stop to all that nonsense right away.

"We kept it secret from you so that you wouldn't…you know…"

"I know, lad" Rob said as he pulled his grandson into a hug and kissed the top of his head. "But don't you worry about me…I am able to handle this and a lot more and I know you are too…that's the thing about us Fitches….we rise from the ground up…"

"That's the phoenix bird, granddad" Liam corrected him immediately.

He looked at his grandson and smiled at the way the boy always corrected him when he quoted something wrong, it reminded him a lot of his favorite daughter-in-law Naomi.

"Us Fitches do it too, son…and so we will. We'll figure something out, you'll see."

Liam wanted to believe his granddad and for a bit he held on to him hoping that what the elder Fitch told him was all true but deep inside of him, after having lived through it all he knew that if his parents did not figure everything out within the next few days they never would. He knew that this whole thing was approaching its bitter end.

"I don't know" he said to his grandfather a bit disillusioned. "Maybe the divorce will be better for all of us. At least now mum will stop yelling and I will be able to see Naomi on a regular basis…"

"Naomi?" Rob asked concerned as this was the first time he had ever heard his grandson call her that. "Why are you all a sudden calling your mum by her first name?"

"I know she's not _really_ my mum granddad, I am not a child…"

Rob stopped short a bit because he knew that if his daughter-in-law ever heard her son say those words in front of her it would break her heart into a million pieces. And the truth was that he loved Naomi like a daughter. He sometimes could relate to her even more than to his own children and throughout the years he'd seen her be nothing more than a wonderful mum to Liam…much more of a parent than even his daughter was sometimes.

"Who put those silly things into your mind, boy?" He said a bit upset at his grandson, possibly for the first time in his life.

"Dad told me she wasn't on my birth certificate. He was talking to Effy about it the other day while I was at their house…they were talking about the divorce and when Effy mentioned a custody battle for me he said there was no need because Naomi didn't even appear on the birth certificate…he said _his_ name was on it and that she was nothing but just my mum's wife."

"Rat bastard" Rob was really mad at what he was hearing. He was very upset because he knew himself that the only reason this had even happened wasn't Naomi's fault. It wasn't Emily's fault either, it was all Jenna.

_After that first night that Naomi stayed in Emily's house the girls stuck like glue to each from the very start. And just like beginning of any relationship, especially one like the one that Naomi and Emily had started everything was grand and lovely…with days filled with tenderness and nights filled with passion or vice versa. _

_So a few weeks after, when Naomi had to leave Bristol to go back to her job in London (she had been on holiday until then) the girls were both in the foulest of moods as they quite literally couldn't stand to be a minute apart. _

_"Why the long face, red?" Cook said as he took a cigarette to his mouth and offered one to Emily as they both sat waiting for Katie who was walking around the mall looking for a new dress Cook had promised to buy for her. "You missing your wifey already?_

_"Shut up Cook…seriously, why the hell didn't any one of you tell me that she lived in London…I would've never…"_

_"Oh Emilio man...stop lying to yourself, you know very well you would've loved her even if she lived in Cambodia." _

_Emily tried hiding the smile that came to her face at thinking that Cook was completely right. It had only been a three weeks but Emily had definitely fallen…hard…so fucking hard that she may have moved to Cambodia if Naomi had asked her to. But she hadn't, she had just taken off back to London and left her still hungry for that bliss of three whole weeks together. And this longing, that need to have the blonde-haired beauty near her had her in the very worse of moods; moodier than she'd ever been before. _

_"Oh fuck" She said getting up from the bench where she sat next to her mate and ran over to the rubbish bin and threw up in it. _

_Cook got up immediately after her, throwing the cigarette away and holding on to her hair and caressing her back a bit. _

_"You still throwing up, Em?" Katie said a bit concerned as she marched out of the store she'd been hiding in for quite a huge part of the afternoon as Cook and her sister waited for her outside. "It's like the third week already…I am telling you to just go to the fucking doctor…I bet you got food poisoning from that god-awful pub food you grubbed down that night. That can't be good on your system. This is your fault Cook!"_

_"I don't think its food poisoning" Emily said wiping her mouth and taking a sip of the iced tea that she'd been drinking just before this all happened. It had been the only thing that she had been able to keep down all day. _

_"Well what else could it be?" _

_"Dunno…but this has to be a stomach bacteria or something…it's like I am dizzy all the time and like it just comes and goes at random times, it has like a mind of its own…it doesn't matter what I eat, even just the smell of random stuff makes me wanna hurl for no reason…"_

_"Mate, you sound just like my mum a few months before my brother Paddy was…holy fuck" Cook said laughing a bit and helping the younger twin sit back down on the bench. "If it wasn't because I am 100% positive that it's quite impossible, you know, by normal means…I would've bet all my money that my blonde mate back in London was gonna be a new mummy…with all that shagging you two 've been doing I'd say she had you knocked up good and proper"_

_"What?" Emily said a bit concerned at what Cook was trying to imply. _

_"Oh shut up Cook, stop twatting about…you know that's not possible…they're lezzas for God's sake, they can't just make a baby." Katie responded, stating the obvious as she usually did. _

_Emily stayed quiet, trying to rely on her awful memory at the last time she remembered having her period."Oh shit"_

_"What…why, oh shit?...oh shit to what?" Katie said looking at her sister's worried face. She held on to Emily as the younger twin placed her head on her sister's neck and whispered. "When was Karen's party?" _

_"February 9th or 10th, I think…it was 'round valentine's day" Katie whispered back to her sister. _

_"Fuck!" Emily said as she felt her throat closing up and her voice start to fade. "Oh fuck no…"_

_"Oh come on Ems, don't start freaking out, yea?" Katie said rapidly sitting next to her sister and tracing her arm around her neck. _

_"Freaking out about what mate? I know I fucking skipped right out of anatomy class in college but I am quite sure what you're thinking is impossible…you girls have nothing to worry about. It's just a stomach bug" Cook said motioning for Katie and Emily to stand up off the bench so they could get going. _

_"Cook just shut up and stop trying to give your opinion on any of this…" Katie yelled furious as she held on to Emily with one hand and the shopping bags in another and they started walking toward the car. _

_"My opinion on what? finger babies? tongue babies? You girls are so fucking ridiculous at times. I gotta call Naomi and tell her all this nonsense...she's gonna piss her pants" Cook said laughing right behind them as Katie turned around and pushed him and then gave him a look that told him all he needed to know. _

_"Do NOT tell Naomi anything!" Katie demanded. "You understand me?"_

_"Oh fuck, no" He said to himself as he thought of his best mate and how enthused she had been talking to him over the phone about how much she was missing Emily. He took a breath and scratched his head and for a moment his heart hurt at the thought of how soon enough he was gonna have to see his best friend with a broken heart. And that hurt him much more than if it had been his who was broken instead._


	8. Chapter 8

**I am laughing right now because I had never seen Emily's middle name. Is that her actual middle name or did you just make that up Tiffythetitan? It's even funnier if you made it up because my best friend doesn't have a middle name and when I feel a bit like I need to 'yell' at her I come up with a random one. I am sure I've used Jane before, you guys should help me find other middle names to call her. I reckon I will soon be yelling at her about a guy, it's always about a guy, isn't it?**

**SexySacer, it's not TMI...I hope you don't blow your Easter break...study, it'll pay off. (Look at me being all 'preachy' when I should probably be doing some work as well yet here I am...writing. LOL.)**

**Anywho, thanks for reading everyone! Here's chapter 8. Remember that stuff about no beta and me not owning Skins? Still stands. Good Monday peeps. **

* * *

_8_

"Do you mind?" Emily said to Naomi who'd been sitting on the bed waiting for Emily to finish bathing while she played a game on her phone and waited her turn.

"What? You need me to turn around?" Naomi chuckled and rose an eyebrow at her ex as if what she was saying complete and utterly ridiculous.

"Yea" Emily said bugging her eyes out at Naomi, though of course she knew that her being nude wasn't a sight Naomi had never seen…after their separation it felt a bit odd to just be stripping away in front of her.

"Are you fucking joking?"

Emily rolled her eyes and made a gesture at Naomi to turn around and face the window while she changed into her clothes. Naomi felt both ridiculous and pissed off at the way her ex was acting. "So fucking childish…ridiculous" She mumbled through her teeth.

"What'd you say?" Emily inquired as she rapidly looked in her bag for a shirt to pull over her head rapidly.

"Nothing…"

"You obviously said something…" Emily ranted back immediately.

"I said this is ridiculous…as if I hadn't fucking seen every single bit of you for the last almost 14 years…"

"Yea, well now it's different…"

"It's not different, it's you being petty…but you know what?" she said turning around without caring whether her ex was naked or dressed. "You could have me turn around or shut my eyes at you but I don't need to look at you to see you naked…_all the time_." Naomi explained as she got up off the bed and started walking toward the bathroom.

"Oh really?" Emily said watching her, a bit pissed off at the tone in which Naomi was talking to her.

"Of course…all I got to do is close my eyes and there you are…" Naomi closed her eyes as she stood right in front of her. "Every single piece of you, every single smell, every single taste of your skin, every part of you tattooed right there on my mind" she whispered to Emily who for a second closed her eyes and felt her entire body shimmer at the thought.

"All of that is all mine and no one and nothing can take it away from me"

_"Hiya gorgeous" Emily was startled by Naomi's embrace though she had been staring out into the park in front of Keith's pub waiting for her to meet her there. Though she'd been waiting, she wasn't exactly paying too much attention so when the blonde pulled her up from behind and held on to her this caused Emily to jump up as if she had been electrically shocked and pulled away from her. _

_"Hey…hey…that's no way to greet your girlfriend Smurfie Fitch…especially your girlfriend that has misses you sooo very very very much." Naomi pulled Emily back into her and started to kiss her neck and Emily closed her eyes and allowed it for a few seconds but then pulled away from her again. _

_"You're not my girlfriend" She said starting to get upset for no reason. While it was true that neither of them had talked about labels for their relationship and that the word girlfriend hadn't even been mentioned (as many words hadn't, they'd been far too busy doing other more 'interesting' things than analyzing their relationship) deep inside both felt like the title just fit. As if it was just assumed to be that way because of the way they'd been acting. _

_Though for Emily it had suddenly become apparent that maybe that was about to change. Everything was about to change as soon as she told Naomi what she'd come here to tell her. _

_Naomi smiled at the sight of her girl being a bit pouty like she'd been from time to time during those last three weeks. And though with anyone else those changes of mood and annoying little rants may have completely exasperated the blonde, for some reason when Emily did that she found her even cuter than before…so she decided it was time to make things right and make her smile again. "Alright then, moany…Emily Fitch …do you wanna be my girlfr-…?"_

_Before Naomi could finish those words Emily interrupted her. "Look Naomi, I think we need to talk…" she said with a very serious face, something that made Naomi's stomach flip and not in a nice way. _

_"Need to talk? About what?" Naomi answered with creased eyebrows. "Everything alright babe?"_

_Emily took a deep breath to try to remain calm because she wasn't sure that she was going to be able to handle what was coming next. "Sit down please" she said as she sat on the very bench where Naomi had been sitting the first time she saw her…right in front of Keith's. _

_Naomi sat down even more worried than before. She took Emily's hand in hers but the redhead pulled away from it fast and then Naomi really got worried. "What's going on Emily?"_

_"I...um…" Emily did not know how to start talking. Suddenly every word she'd rehearsed for the past two days in her mind had magically been erased and all she could see was a bunch of fog that did not allow her to think. All she could see was the face of the girl she'd wanted to hold on to and never let go again watching her, expecting something that she wasn't sure she could give her anymore. Waiting a few more seconds until she had to break her heart. _

_"You what?" Naomi said a bit more nervous at seeing Emily's face. Her eyes wouldn't meet her own and she looked pale and a bit disheveled…almost as if she had been crying for a few days without her knowing. "Tell me what's wrong Emsy…"_

_"Naomi, these past few weeks have been…oh god…they've been incredible." Emily said starting to tear up. Her face was now turning red and she started to gasp for air as she felt the blonde's hands holding hers for comfort. "But…"_

_"But?" Naomi said confused, she pressed her eyes as she felt even more pain in her stomach at hearing Emily's next words. _

_"I think it's better if you and I…if we don't continue…"_

_"Why not?" Naomi answered rapidly. It had taken her a second to recover from the first blow, but this didn't mean she was gonna just give up very easily. _

_ "I...I just don't think that we are working out…"_

_"Don't lie" Naomi said looking straight into Emily's eyes when she was able to catch them._

_ Emily looked at her almost at awe at Naomi's reaction. In the years she'd dated men, even the nicest of them had never reacted to her breaking up with them that way. None of them had questioned her decision, as if Naomi knew full well that the least the Emily wanted to do was break-up. _

_"I am not" Emily said standing up to face away from Naomi. "It was good while it lasted, but I think that sometimes things just don't work out the way we intend them and…"_

_"Stop it, Em…I know that's not the way you feel…I mean, look at you." Naomi said standing up and moving closer to her. _

_"Look at the way you shiver when I touch you" Naomi pulled closer and took her in her arms once again. "I know you feel the same way I am feeling, Ems…please tell me the truth. I deserve at least that."_

_"I can't" Emily said moving away again. "I am telling you the truth and I..."_

_"You're lying babe, I could see it…tell me what it is…I know that it may sound like it's too soon for me to say but…Em, whatever it is I could handle it, alright?"_

_At hearing that Emily place her hands on her face and started to sob. She almost wished that Naomi wasn't being this sweet, that she wasn't this kind and loving toward her so that this would become a lot easier. _

_"Is it your parents?" Naomi asked as she pulled Emily's hands off her face so she can look at her. "Is it Katie? your friends? your job?...babe, whatever it is that's making you doubt…I promise, I can handle it. Just tell me what it is."_

_"I can't…I just…you're never gonna understand."_

_"But I will" Naomi said taking Emily back into her arms. "I've never felt this for anyone else in my entire life, Em, I can't just let you go this way…whatever it is we can get through it. Just tell me."_

_"I'm pregnant Naomi"_

_"You're what?"_

"I think you better go get dressed before mum comes in here and starts complaining about us missing breakfast. She's gonna need us to help her sort out the table arrangements for the reception since she could never make up her mind on who to sit next to whom…she thinks you're the only one with the witts to know how to tame all those fitches."

"She said that?" Naomi answered as she backed away from behind Emily just seconds from what she had just said. It pained her so much that Emily always managed change the subject, every time she'd try to pour her heart out to her but despite the fact that Emily wanted to silence her she couldn't help but tell her and anyone else that would listen that she still loved her…because she did. She still loved her and nothing had ever stopped her from loving her…even at the worse possible moments of their lives.

_"I can't…" Naomi said as she closed her eyes and turned around and started walking away from Emily just as the redhead had expected. _

_From behind the bench Emily stood and watched as the woman she now knew (for sure) that she loved was walking away from her life in a ball of tears and all because of something stupid she had done on a drunken night a few months prior. _

_While it was true that she'd been dating Freddy, their relationship hadn't been much too exiting and somehow she had managed to convince the tall, olive-skinned guy to wait for them to be more 'serious' so that they could take it to the next step. _

_But that night, the night of his sister's party she was a bit too drunk and out of her wits to think straight and she'd finally given in to what her mum and Katie had been pressuring to do all along. _

_Just a few days before, her father had offered Freddy the job as manager to his gym on the west side of the city (the second largest of the chain, Rob ran the first) and Freddy had had the bright idea (or rather had followed through with Jenna's idea) of proposing to Emily with his grandmother's ring in his hand, in a proper party in front of all their friends and loved ones._

_Little did he know that his proposal would prompt Emily to run off and away from the place as if it was on fire and then later declare to her mum, dad, brother and sister that the reason she couldn't be marry the lad was because she simply wasn't into men. She was gay, she knew was a lesbian from the moment she first discovered there was such thing as sexual attraction. She'd never liked a single guy in any other way but as a friend. The only guy she'd even come remotely close to being friends with was her mate JJ who was by far the only male (aside from her dad and brother James) who she actually trusted or felt comfortable with. _

_And all the men she'd date she'd found completely unattractive, and this included Freddy McClair who despite the fact that most girls found him 'well fit' as her sister put it…she just couldn't find a single iota of desire for…even though she had really really tried. _

_So that night, after a few days of smoking, and pills and drinking alongside Effy,Panda, Thomas and their new friend Cook…she'd finally agreed to go to Karen's party with Katie, to apologize to Fred, his dad and his sister about the way she'd reacted to his proposal. _

_But what she thought was gonna be a friendly family outing was a bit of a bacchanal of sex and drugs as Karen had decided to invite her buddies from the SexxBombs and their crew to host. The booze, the drugs, the music and the heavy atmosphere had only amped Emily on to further state of inhibition so by the time she actually got to see (her now ex-boyfriend) Freddy she was well out of it. She was really gone. _

_As Emily looked on to Naomi walking away from her with sad eyes she fought to catch her breath and she went to sit down on the bench, but before she did she looked up at the sight of the blonde suddenly standing next to her again._

_"No" Naomi said with a determined look. Her hands were shaking and she looked just as flushed as someone who had just finished running a full on marathon…but she didn't care. _

_"No what? "Emily said as her voice cracked and she stood back up to face the blonde. _

_"No, I don't give a fuck…I don't care…I don't care that you're pregnant…I don't care whose kid it is…I don't fucking care. I want you Emily…I want to be with you no matter what. I love you. OK?"_


	9. Chapter 9

**Thanks a million for your comments and for following me on this. I like your suggestion for a middle name for my best bud. I had seeing both Jane and Diane as middle names for Emily and funny thing is I can't use Louise because that's my sisters' dogs' name. LOL. I usually come up with weird long names like Petunya or Gertrude (If that's your name, no offense...it just sounds ridiculous with my friend's name)**

**So far I am a little glad that I've been on break because that means I can write a bit. This chapter is...well, maybe I better leave to you to tell me what you think. **

**As per, I have no beta and do not own skins. Here's chapter 9...**

* * *

_9_

_"I love you too babe, but I can't…I can't let you do this."_

_Emily held on tightly to Naomi, so tightly that the blonde had started to feel dizzy all of a sudden. Or maybe it wasn't so much the way that Emily was holding her but rather the attack of nerves she'd suddenly started to feel as she realized what she was doing. Suddenly, in a matter of a few seconds Naomi had gone from a punch-drunk love declaration to Emily assuring her she can handle this whole thing to a complete and utter mess of nerves who held on to the little redhead in order to hold herself together because if she didn't, she might just faint on the floor right in front of her. _

"Holy Christ, Liam"

Rob Fitch had never been so scared in his life as he went to get up after his grandson who was now making his way over inside their house when suddenly out of nowhere he saw him fall to the floor like a broken branch off a tree.

"Naomi…Emily…James….somebody…help!"

Naomi who had now been standing next to the glass French door in the living room of her in-laws house heard her name from a voice coming from outside and instinctively ran toward it immediately.

"What happened? She yelled as she could see Rob on top of the small hill in the garden that lead toward the fountain and when she heard the next words she thought for sure her world was about to crumble. She thought for sure she was about to die.

"It's Liam"

Naomi looked below the hill at the body of her young son splayed across the ground and saw that he wasn't moving and in what felt like hours but was for sure only a few seconds she ran up toward him, pull him up into her arms with a force she could not even manage to comprehend and ran in over the house.

"Liam!" Emily cried at the sight of her Naomi running toward the house with their son in her arms. "Oh my God…Liam…what happened?"

Naomi could not answer; she did not even know what to say. She ran over to the nearest couch and lay her son on there trying to figure out what to do next.

"Call an ambulance" Jenna yelled with Hanna in her arms who was now crying at the ruckus that was going on in her home.

"No, I am taking him to the hospital myself" Naomi cried out exasperatedly. "Look at him…he's bleeding"

"Don't move him" James yelled out and moved his sister-in-law away from his nephew and started to check for vital signs. "What happened?"

"He was walking down the hill back toward the house, very upset" Rob said as he looked at Naomi first and then at Emily who was crying into her exes shoulder while Naomi gave directions to the ambulance crew. "He suddenly just fell"

"Fell?" Emily said crying. "Like off the hill?"

_"Why not?" Naomi exclaimed as she took a big gulp of air and looked back at Emily. "Why can't you let me be part of your life? Because you're pregnant? Has being pregnant made you stop loving me?"_

_Emily shook her head and bit her upper lip at the sight of those big blue crystalline eyes that looked down on her with so much love that she could hardly contain herself._

_ "Of course not" Emily answered back tenderly. "I think I maybe love you just a little more after you just said that…but…"_

_"But what?" Naomi said as she held Emily's cheeks in between her hands. _

_"This isn't your kid, Naoms…we've only been dating for three weeks…that's not enough time for you to commit to this"_

_Naomi looked straight at her and for a second she thought about telling her that the she had only needed 3 minutes of looking at her beautiful brown eyes to know she wanted to spend the rest of her life staring at them. But she knew that wasn't proper, she knew that no matter how romantic it all sounded she needed to be mature and sound about this. So she told her something else. _

_"I am not saying I am committing to anything…I know 3 weeks isn't enough time for something to significant, but Em…maybe 3 weeks isn't enough time for me to commit to being a mother to your child but it is enough time for me to know what I am crazy about you…and I don't wanna lose you. All I am asking if you for not to walk away so fast. For you to give this a try. Just give me 9 months…"_

_"It's 7 now" Emily corrected her immediately. _

_"7 then" Naomi said smiling and holding on to Emily who was scrunched up into her embrace._

_Maybe neither one of them was ready to be anyone's parents yet…they probably weren't even ready to be full-on adults but for some reason being in each other's arms made them ready to take on anything. As long as they were together, holding each other each step of the way, everything was going to be alright in the end. _

"Who is riding in with him?" The paramedic asked gently at the lot of adults, all in a state of frenzy at the sight of Liam being pulled up in a stretcher with an oxygen mask over his face and his head wrapped up in heavy bandages, still unconscious.

Emily did not answer, she ran over toward the ambulance and started to walk in but before stepping up she looked back still crying and stretched her arm out over to Naomi. "Please come with me baby"

Naomi didn't think twice at the request of her wife and ran over toward the ambulance and took her hand.

"Only one of you can go in here" another paramedic called out immediately. "Which one of you is the mother?"

_"You're a brave soul" Emily whispered to Naomi's left ear. She was now sitting on top of Naomi's legs on the lawn at the park in front of Keith's while the blonde enveloped her in her arms and kissed her sweetly. _

_"Why is that?" Naomi answered as she caressed her girlfriend's belly right under her t-shirt and smiled. _

_"Between my mood-swings, my morning sickness and my cravings…you've just signed up for the single-most annoying relationship in the history of lesbianism."_

_"Bah, I'll be just fine" Naomi stated proudly. "I grew up with Gina Campbell as a mum…we once lived within a pack of nomadic religious fanatics for almost a year while I was 8 with mum until she found out the leader of the group was set on marrying her and then waiting for me to turn 12 to do the same with me…mum and I had to run away from their campsite at night and then trek all the way through to the next town on foot with nothing but the clothes in our backs. Trust me, I am prepared for anything."_

_"Really?" Emily said pressing her nose against Naomi's and smiling and steeling kisses from her as they talked. _

_"Whatever you have for me I can handle…I am one step ahead of you."_

_"So the morning sickness…"_

_"I make the best ginger tea in the world…you've had it, you know…" _

_"Yes…but what about my mood swings?" Emily stated with an almost challenging smirk. _

_"That one is way easy…every time you start to go a little off I'll just do this" She said tickling the redhead's side where she knew Emily couldn't handle being tickled. She'd discovered this weak spot after many, many hours of searching for secret hiding places with her tongue while her body fell encircled between the redhead's thighs. _

_"Ahhh" Emily shrieked and tried pulling away from her girlfriend's embrace very unsuccessfully. _

_"Or this" Naomi continued, now biting a place on Emily's neck and causing a short moan to escape from her lips. _

_"Or this" Emily said taking the blonde's cheeks into her hands and starting to kiss her softly. _

_"See" Naomi announced proudly. "Now we're making progress" _

_"Yes" Emily said with her hands still cupping the blonde's face. "But what about the midnight cravings? You'll be in London."_

_"Actually, that's the thing that I wanted to talk about before you just tried, very unsuccessfully to kick me to the curb" _

_"Oi" Emily said hitting her girlfriend on the shoulder a bit upon hearing the way she referred to their almost-breakup. _

_"I was actually talking to my mum about wanting to move back to Bristol…"_

_"Babe, you don't have to do that on the count of my situation…"_

_"I am not" Naomi stated. "I spoke to her way before I knew about this" she said patting Emily on the stomach and smiling. "She'd been offering me a position at the homeless center she runs with her best mates Judy and Monica and they needed someone to do some advocacy work and such…looks like they've gotten some really great sponsoring and good promotion from some young actors who did like a photography campaign for their benefit and I wasn't convinced about doing it because I was doing okay in London…but then I met you…"_

_Emily smiled gladly at the thought of having Naomi closer to her. If it was up to her she'd ask her to move right in with her because being with the blonde was so lovely that she didn't feel like spending a single minute apart. But she knew that things were moving way too fast and that now with the baby on the way she had to very careful about each and every single step she took. _

_The least she wanted was to involve herself and Naomi into something they weren't ready to do. She was now a single mom and she couldn't just worry about her own well-being, but also the well-being of the tiny soul the universe had suddenly dropped into her life without much notice. And even if she was dying to close her eyes and travel to a time in the future where Naomi and her were actually together, with 'their' son or daughter nearby and huddled into an embrace she knew she needed to wait for all that…she had to do things one step at a time. _

"Family of Liam Fitch" Emily stood up from the chair she'd been sitting at all scrunched up into Naomi waiting for news of what was happening to their son. Soon thereafter Naomi stood up behind her and started to hear what the doctor had to say.

"Mrs. Fitch?" The doctor said pointing at both Naomi and Emily standing in front of them. Emily moved her hand to let him know it was her and then he asked her to follow him over toward the room where they were keeping her son. As she walked she pulled Naomi right along with her as they hadn't been able to let go of each other for a single minute after this had happened.

"Parents only" the doctor said to Naomi who was now walking toward the restricted area as well.

"I'm.." she tried to say before Emily interrupted her.

"Naomi is my wife and Liam's mum…we are his parents. Please tell me you've got good news for us doctor."

The doctor stared at Naomi for a minute as Emily pulled the blonde into her to hug her and waited patiently for the doctor to respond.

"Your son is gonna be fine…" he said looking at them both. "He suffered a concussion from the fall as well as a few other bruises but thankfully he has no blood clots in the brain which is what we usually fear when we have head injuries."

"What caused him to fall? Naomi asked while Emily lay her head on her shoulder and held her tighter.

"We can't be sure what the actual cause of his fainting spell was, the paramedics who spoke to his grandfather said he mentioned Liam had been running before the fact so they took his blood sugar and that makes us suspect he may have had a bit of hypoglycemia, very low blood sugar, since it's so early in the morning and he may or may not have eaten so well…but to be truthful these types of things can be caused by many things."

"Bad things?" Emily asked with a faint of a voice.

"Some bad, some not necessarily so bad…once he wakes up we might be able to get a more clear picture. But with the tests we've ran so far we can rule out a lot of the more serious ones…"

Both Emily and Naomi sighed in relief. "Can we go in to see him now?"

"You can, but I am afraid he won't be awake for quite a few hours. And because it's the Intensive Care Unit we usually don't allow more than one person to stay by his bedside…it's not even a matter of allowing it, the space there is pretty compact and they only have room for one chair…" the doctor answered.

"It's alright" Emily said pulling Naomi by the hand to go in with her. "We'll figure it out, right baby?"


	10. Chapter 10

**Hi everyone, I am sorry about this bit being so short but I am a bit busier than I thought I was gonna be today so I hadn't had time to sit and write. Regardless, I didn't wanna leave you without an update. Thank you so much for your comments, they are lovely. I will see if I can manage to update a little more once I am done with this. Cheers. **

**Skins doesn't belong to me and I don't have someone to beta-read it (heck, I wrote it so fast I can hardly say I've alpha-read it. LOL) so all these mistakes are most definitely mine. **

* * *

10

"They weren't kidding about the lack of space" Naomi said a bit frustrated when her and Emily walked into the tiny room were their son was laying still unconscious in a bed. Both her and Emily walked over toward him, gave him kisses on his forehead and cheeks and then started looking awkwardly at the single (not very roomy) chair that lay right beside his bed.

"Guess maybe I should just let _you_ stay here and I…"

"No" Emily said grabbing Naomi by the wrist before she started to go. "He's gonna need us both here when he awakes."

"Right but both of us don't fit in here, Em" Naomi said pointing at the obviously small chair where hardly one of them fit.

She walked around Naomi without letting go of her hand and then pulled her to the chair and sat her down. Naomi looked at her a bit nervous at the sight. Emily's eyes looked at her sweetly and her soft hands on Naomi's shoulders made the blonde's stomach flutter a bit.

"We'll manage…we always find a way."

For a second Emily looked at her and then sighed and without permission she sat right on her ex's legs and held on to her. Naomi could only look at her without uttering a single word, she actually didn't even know what to say.

_"So she doesn't care that you're pregnant with someone else's kid? She still wants to try it?" _

_Katie and Emily were sitting at a café nearby where their mum met with a client about a new job with their wedding-planning company. _

_"Yea, she told me to give her these seven months to figure things out…she doesn't wanna lose me." Emily answered with a dumb grin on her face. _

_Katie smiled at watching her sister's eyes as she talked about Naomi. The last few days (after finding out that she was for sure pregnant) Emily had done nothing but cry and seeing Emily hurting that way really hurt Katie as well. Emily was always the cheery, happy-go-lucky, do-everything-once, everything-will-be-alright type. Seeing her in that much pain just killed Katie. And though after her diagnosis (not being able to ever have children of her own) the thought of having a new niece or nephew on the way really excited the elder twin, it also worried her. Emily and her were still very young, just starting out with their careers and starting to really taken on adult life. Having a child, especially alone was something that was gonna be extremely shocking. Something that was gonna change her sister's life completely. _

_It had only been a few weeks since Emily had finally admitted to being gay and then she had met Naomi and things were going really great. And though to Katie this whole 'Emily-being-gay' thing was still kind of weird she was trying her best to accept it all. She had to admit that she had been a participant in pushing Emily against the idea (along with her mum) because she was almost completely sure that her sister couldn't be a lesbian. They'd grown up together and she had never seen Emily ever exhibit any 'lesbian-behavior' in front of her. Though to be honest throughout most of their lives Katie was way too self-absorbed to notice anyone else but herself. Only after her diagnosis had she actually stopped and taken a look at others and started to actually appreciate her sister and the people around her. _

_So when Emily had told her what had happened with Naomi, seeing her face of happiness had placed Katie's heart at ease about Emily being okay. Even if at first Katie and Naomi hadn't really hit it off (they were both too similar and their battle for one-uping each other with witty comebacks and challenges could go overboard at first) after what Emily had just told her Katie had changed her mind about the blonde. Maybe Naomi wasn't all that bad after all. _

_"And she's coming back to Bristol to be with you then?" Katie asked a bit surprised at what her sister was relating back to her about what had happened between her and Naomi just hours prior._

_"Yea, she decided to take a lower-paying job to come back here…I tried telling her she didn't need to do that…I didn't want her to lose income or opportunities in her career but she refused to listen. Her answer for everything is…I'll manage. It's kind of sweet, the way she said it…something along the lines of "When I am with you I feel like a better person…like I can do anything."_

_"She must really fucking love you" _

_"She does" Emily said proudly as she watched her mum signal at them from outside the shop so that they can join her._

_"So what now you're gonna like live together and stuff?" Katie said while clearing the table and waiting for her sister to walk out together. _

_"No way, we're not ready for that yet. Plus, who do you think we are a couple of clichéd moving-van lesbians or something? We've only been together for three weeks Kate." _

_"Moving-van lesbians?" ___Emily laughed alone at her joke and then looked at Katie who creased her eyebrows and stared at her blankly.__

_"Nevermind" Emily said with a chuckle as she opened the door to the shop and walked out into the crisp evening air. _

_"Well, regardless of how this will work, I hope it all turns out well."_

_"Thanks sis" Emily said embracing her sister and planting a wet kiss on her sister's cheek. _

_"Oi, Emsy…don't do that…you're gonna mess with my make-up" Katie said wiping her cheek as Emily laughed. "__God, you're so disgusting" _

_Emily pulled Katie in and kissed her again and then Katie pushed her back a bit roughly. _

_"Jesus, be careful...I am carrying your future niece or nephew Aunt Katie"_

_Katie laughed and rolled her eyes. "You're gonna milk that pregnancy shit until you possibly can, won't you?"_

_"Of course" Emily said laughing. "Wouldn't you?"_

_"Yea, especially if it was Cook's kid...that bastard is such a lazy-arse...can you believe he refuses to give me foot-massages anymore because he says I am trying to pussy-whip him and he insists that no lad ever named Cook has ever been pussy-whipped by any woman."_

_"Oh please if Cook ever found out you were carrying his child he'd carry you around in a pouch like a mother-kangaroo the entire time. He's like a natural born dad. Haven't you seen him go crazy over his little brother Paddy? It's kinda too sweet for words" Emily said watching Katie's smile at the thought of her boyfriend and his brother. _

_"Speaking of fathers...are you ever gonna tell me who the father is?" Katie said as she approached the car. _

_ "Who is whose father?" Jenna stepping out of the car and interrupting the conversation between her daughters. _

_"It's from a TV show, mum…nevermind" Katie answered rapidly as seeing her sister's face turn pale at the question she'd just blurted out so easily. Obviously Jenna still had no clue. _

_"You two interested in the same TV programme?" Jenna asked amused. "Must be a really good show…what's it about?"_

_"It's about…a girl…who…" Katie started to come up with someone quickly to distract Jenna but Emily kept on looking at her desperately so she couldn't concentrate._

_"Who what?" Jenna asked as she opened the automatic doors so her daughters could get inside. _

_"It's nothing…it's a random TV comedic drama about a bunch of teenagers at the beginning of sixth form…it's nothing you'd enjoy mum…nevermind it…now tell me about the cake."_

_Emily was surprisingly good at coming up with excuses sometimes and even though she hadn't wanted to lie to her mum that time she knew she must keep the baby thing under wraps for now until she figured and sort everything out with that, and Naomi…and then there was telling the father."_

"We gotta tell Freds" Emily said standing up off Naomi's lap and looking for signal on her phone.

"Why?" Naomi asked a bit upset and moving around on her chair to face Emily who played with her phone.

Suddenly Emily was upset once again at seeing Naomi's attitude every time she mentioned Freddy and she was about to raise her voice but then remembered where they were and opted to whisper back at the blonde whose face had turn stone cold. "Because he's Liam's father Naomi, that's why"

Throughout the years, despite the fact that they had a bit of a rough break-up, Emily had allowed Fred to be part of Liam's life because she felt it was necessary for him to get to know his father. This fact had never really bothered Naomi, as she had found out from Emily who the baby's father was from the beginning and had accepted the fact that Emily had no romantic feelings (past or present) for Freddy. It was because she trusted Emily and knew the redhead loved her truly that she had accepted Freddy in Liam's life and she had even been able to become quiet friendly with him and his wife Effy.

Her growing up practically alone with Gina prompted her to believe the more people that loved their son the better so she accepted that Liam see his dad and that he even called him that despite the fact that legally Liam belonged to her and Emily and to everyone _they_ were Liam's parents. At least that's what Emily had Naomi believe.

It wasn't until a couple of years prior, when Emily's business started to take off and Naomi became the one taking care of Liam and the household that she became aware of something she'd ignored completely. Something that made her feel betrayed and lied to. Something that caused their relationship to fall on the floor and crash into a million pieces like a fine piece of glass that'd been kept away for many years. Something that would change the dynamic of her and Emily's relationship from then on…and possibly forever.

_"I understand Ms. Campbell, but like I mentioned in order to get Liam back into school this year you need to bring the written authorization signed by at least one of his parents…"_

_"What do you mean? I AM one of his parents! I am Liam's mother…"_

_The clerk looked at Naomi like she was crazy and then looked through the manila folder at the young boys record and sighed. She went over to the computer and typed in some codes, passwords and browsed through and compared what she had in her folder to what she saw on the screen. _

_"It shows here that Liam's mother appears as a Ms. Emily Fitch on his birth certificate" _

_Naomi rolled her eyes and then stood up in frustration at the ineptity of the staff member. _

_"I know that…Emily is my wife, she's Liam's birth mum but I am his second parent…look" She said as she took the birth certificate right out of the clerk's hand and when she went to point at the spot where her name was supposed to be she found something else written_

_Fredrick McClair. _


	11. Chapter 11

**Thank you so much for your comments and follows. I really do love reading them. I am not gonna comment on them right not because I feel like if I do I might give something away and I don't wanna do that. **

**Thanks for the middle name suggestion, I will use Josephine next for sure...keep them coming! LOL. **

**Skins doesn't belong to me and I don't have a beta, so mistakes are mine. Here comes chapter 11...**

* * *

_11_

"I think I better go" Naomi got up off the chair she'd been sitting in with Emily on top of her legs just a few minutes prior with a defeated look in her eyes. This look, the look of anger she'd been sporting ever since she found out about Emily's lie made Emily sad enough to close the texting window on her phone and put it away.

"Don't go, baby…please"

"So _now_ I am baby, last night I couldn't even call you Emsy…I don't get you Emily…I really don't."

Naomi didn't wanna leave, she wanted to stay by her son (and her wife) the entire night and wait until he awoke. She needed to be by them, she knew she did…but the pain and the anger surging deep inside her didn't allow her to think straight. This was the same anger that bubbled up all throughout the months after she'd find out about Emily. The same anger that propelled her into ripping their marriage apart bit by bit right after that.

_"Where have you been?"_

_Naomi was in the kitchen still cleaning the last bit of dishes from the dinner her and Liam had share alone, for the third time that week. Ever since Emily had started with the new business it wasn't unusual for Naomi and Liam to sometimes have to eat alone, but this didn't worry Naomi too much because until then she was nothing more than supportive of her wife's business venture. _

_In fact, she was more than supportive…she was all out proud and would go on rants at work about the great job her Emily was doing with her cakes and how soon she may even have to quit the job fully maybe she'd get to be the housewife. _

_Of course this thought amused her co-workers and mates because Naomi was very far away from being anything even remotely close to a proper housewife, but they all knew how much she loved her family and that as long as Liam and Emily were involved…Naomi could do anything. _

_"I told you, I was having a meeting with the new clients…"_

_"And Mandy?" Naomi said a bit bitterly. _

_"Of course Mandy was there babe, she's my assistant. She has to be there to take all notes and just prepare everything so that I can concentrate on my craft" Emily answered a bit taken at the cold way in which Naomi was talking to her. _

_"What's wrong babe?" Emily said pulling close to her wife and wrapping her arm around her waist. "You missed me a lot?"_

_Emily tried stepping up to kiss the blonde's cheek but Naomi pulled away and pretended to be drying her hands on the apron she was wearing. After what she had just found out about the birth certificate, Naomi was hardly in the mood to even talk to her wife...much less have her touch her. _

_"Is Liam still awake?"_

_"He just went to bed…why weren't you answering your phone? I thought you were done with your meeting at 9…"_

_"Meeting ran a little long since the clients wanted to see about extra details for a few other events they'll be having…my phone was actually in my purse the entire time, completely dead…"_

_"Right" Naomi said walking out of the kitchen into the living room to turn off the light in the house. Emily trailed right after her. _

_"You know I was actually gonna ask you if you wouldn't mind picking me up an extra phone charger next time you can so that I can just bring it along with me or leave it at the office…heck, pick me up two instead…you know how I am about misplacing everything." Emily said laughing at herself for being a bit shit about losing things. She always had that issue, there wasn't a single piece of jewelry, important paper or even things as mundane as the keys or phone charger that she did not misplace or lose on a regular basis. _

_"And you couldn't ask _Mandy _to borrow her phone to call me for one minute to tell you were gonna be long?"_

_Emily looked at her wife for a second and saw how upset she actually was about this. And she didn't blame her at all for being furious; she'd had been the same if Naomi had ever done that, but Naomi never had. She had never forgotten to call her if she was coming late from work, she'd never left her alone just wondering…she'd always been no more than exemplary with these types of things and Emily felt very guilty. _

_"You're right baby, that's exactly what I should've done." Emily said approaching her wife once again. "I am sorry, I am bit shit at this…but I promise love…I swear to you that I will start to be more considerate from now on, no lie."_

_Once Naomi heard that she backed away from Emily immediately. No lie? Had she really said that to her just now when she had done nothing but fucking lie for an entire 11 years of their lives about the single most important thing in their lives…their son? Liam was supposed to be theirs. He was supposed to be hers. Now she felt like her entire life had been a completely lie. Like everything she ever thought she knew no longer existed. Like her family existed no more. _

Naomi completely ignored anything else Emily was saying to her because by now she as so furious she thought she was about to burst. She didn't want to, she didn't wanna make another scene and have another row with Emily about this because there was really no point to it anymore. The situation with Emily had already gone too far and it was evident that there was no way of fixing this at all…no matter how much Naomi had wanted to fix it. They had hurt each other too much.

"Come on Naomi, don't go that way. I am sorry I even mentioned Freddy…I just, you know that both him and Effy do love Liam and I'd hate for them to reproach me about not calling them if something happened.

Naomi could hardly care about Emily's excuses. Whether she wanted to tell Liam's dad and step-mum the new or post it on Facebook or do whatever she wanted to do…that was her problem. But she didn't really have to be there. After all, Emily hadn't wanted her to be around them in the last few weeks…she'd only even called her to announce the divorce papers were ready and that they were gonna give Liam the chance of picking the days and times he wanted to be with either one of them.

The fact that he wasn't legally Naomi's kid meant she had no legal right to sue for custody of him, so basically it was all up to Emily on whether the kid who she considered her son…the child that had been her entire life's joy since the moment she knew about him would even be able to hang out with her once in a while. It was all very unfair. It was way too painful for Naomi to deal with all at once. Because Naomi would do anything for him…she'd do anything of them…she'd die for them. She loved them so much and this was killing her.

_"You gonna be okay there?" Naomi finally sat in her room at her mother's house after an excessively long day at the office and then a long night hanging out with her girlfriend. "You sure you got everything you need?"_

_It had been a few of months since she' d been working in Bristol and though this was supposed have already become a routine, Naomi still hadn't been able to get used to the entire thing and she wasn't getting much rest. And it wasn't because she didn't want to rest, she did…as soon as she'd get home from Emily's she'd call her to bid her goodnight and go right into bed. _

_But of course her plan of getting a full-night's rest was often trumped by something a lot more important than sleep; Her girlfriend's nighttime cravings. _

_"Actually…" _

_"Oh God no, baby!"_

_"I didn't wanna tell you because I though you looked tired…I know you have so much work this week with the new campaign…I thought I'd let you go home and rest." Emily said embarrassed. _

_"What is it this time? Fish tacos again?" Naomi said smiling and looking at her watch. _

_"Yea" Emily said with a hair of a voice, as if doing so would make it okay to have allowed Naomi to go all the way home so that she can now tell her she was craving tacos. "And Mango juice…"_

_"I guess if I hurry I might still be able to pass by Cholo's and see if Fernando can whip me up some…" Naomi said shaking her head and grabbing her coat and car keys to head out the door._

_"You know they all know me by first name now. They've been trying to come up with names for him…Antonio, Gerardo, Manuel…they swear he'll come out of the womb speaking fluent Spanish…they keep on insisting the sperm donor must be Mexican but I tell them that he's definitely not…"_

_Emily laughed and vowed to really reward her girlfriend for how sweet she was being. And for a moment she felt guilty at the thought of her doubts on this whole thing. It had been a few months since they had been dating and Naomi hadn't been anything but special to her. Sometimes the way Naomi treated her even amazed her as she wasn't used to someone being so sweet and considerate toward her. This was comforting of course, but also rather scary as she often found Naomi would go a bit overboard with the whole pregnancy thing...even more than she did. _

_The last few weeks Naomi (and Cook) had taken to learn all things 'baby' and she would often quote things from three or four books she kept on reading about the status of the pregnancy, what Emily should be feeling, what Emily should be eating...what Emily could and couldn't do. And thought it was sweet...it was so sweet of her Emily was still a bit scared of letting herself get caught up by this whole thing. _

_She was still scared, she frightened at the thought that Naomi was maybe starting to take this thing so seriously. It wasn't that she didn't love Naomi, she did...she loved her more than she could possibly fathom and this was the reason it scared her. She and Naomi had talked extensively about this entire thing before starting out. About how Naomi was only her girlfriend and she didn't have any obligations toward the pregnancy or the baby. She didn't wanna pressure her, but she also didn't wanna feel pressured herself because (though she wanted to deny it) their relationship wasn't in that place. She didn't wanna ruin it, for both her and Naomi. _

_So was why she was still so doubtful about this thing? She couldn't help but listen to her mum (and sometimes Katie) about how ideal it would be for her to stay in touch with Freddy just in case this whole thing with Naomi didn't pan out. _

_In a way, Katie and her mum were right…This was the beginning of the relationship and that usually meant it was the honey-moon phase and all was well and ideal, but what if Naomi found someone more suitable? What if she got cold feet at the sight of the baby? What if it all became too much for her when the baby was actually born and Emily had to manage taking care of him and having less time to spend with her? All these questions haunted her even through these moments of bliss alongside Naomi. It kept her in a state of anxiety just thinking about it. __She was sure she loved Naomi, but how sure was she that this was all gonna work out?_

_"I love you" Emily said to Naomi as the blonde was about to hang up the phone so that she can drive up to Cholo's to try to get her those Fish Tacos she craved. _

_"Yea…I know" Naomi said after sending her girlfriend kisses and then hung up the phone. She smiled at thinking about her little redhead munching down on her Fish Tacos in a few minutes and she knew for sure there was no one else that would ever love Emily the way she did. _

"Please" Emily said looking at the blonde who looked furiously at her. "Do it for Liam, he's gonna wanna see you here when he wakes up. He's gonna wanna see us both."

Naomi let go of her hand a bit violently. "I am not leaving the hospital. I will be right outside waiting…just have a nurse call me when he awakes. I'll explain the chair thing and he'll understand." The blonde said turning around and starting to walk out the door.

"Naomi?" Emily's hoarse voice even more than before as she started to cry.

"What?" Naomi said looking back at the redhead for just a second.

"Liam needs you" Emily answered immediately. "_I_ need you, baby please stay…_for me_."


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello my darlings, I am back with a little update for you. I am glad everyone is liking it so much. So I am not a big Mandy fan but as someone said she is the token of trouble in any Naomily universe, so I decided to add her anyway. Let's see how far she goes here. **

**WeareShippers, I don't think it's called hunting when the prey practically throws itself at your feet. I am sure you did NOT know. This is why there will be absolutely no Keffy in this fic at all. It's a price to pay for your bad hunting skills. **

**Anywho, I don't own Skins and it's characters and I also don't have a beta-reader so mistakes are all my own. **Here's chapter 12...****

* * *

12

"I'll be outside"

Naomi didn't even let Emily start her next sentence as she turned back around and walked outside of the room and through the hallway to a room where they'd let the patient's families stay the night.

"Has he awoken?" Naomi looked up from the floor and saw that the only two people in the room that night were Rob and Jenna Fitch, who were (oddly) sitting on separate sides of the room each with reading material in their hands.

"Not yet, it's gonna be quite a long night. They weren't joking about the small space in there so I just let Emily stay with him…you know, it's _her_ son."

Rob looked at Naomi with pain in his eyes and then at his wife with anger. By now Rob knew all of everything that was going on as she had questioned each and every single one of the family about all that been kept from him.

"I think I am gonna go for a smoke" Naomi said feeling the tension in the room and wanting desperately to seek some air to breath.

"I think I'll join you" Rob announced, completely ignoring Jenna's face of disapproval at the fact that she hadn't allowed him near anyone with a cigarette in months in fear that the second-hand smoke could affect his condition.

At first they both walked along each other in silence, all the way until they got to the elevators and then the doors closed on them.

"You had another row with her" He said not bothering to ask the question, but stating it matter-of-factly.

Naomi did not answer anything back, she wasn't sure how much Rob knew and was still afraid this entire thing might push him off a ledge.

"Katie and James told me everything." He said as the door opened to the crisp evening air and they walked over to a giant fountain in between some large columns that held together the building they had just existed.

"They told you about the divorce?" Naomi said pulling the pack of fags out of her pocket and starting to light one.

"Liam told me about the divorce, they told me everything else."

Naomi sighed and allowed the cloud of smoke fill her lungs to put her body at ease.

"Everything?" Naomi wasn't sure how much detail Katie had gone into, but she was sure that she couldn't had possibly told him all the details since he looked too calm to have known the entire truth.

"That rat bastard must've pushed her to do it somehow…he's been after the gym ever since I employed Cook to manage the entire operation. Maybe he thinks that being Liam's father would somehow end with him inheriting some of it, but I'll burn the place down to its core before I let him ever get a hold of it. Especially now."

Naomi did not answer. She simply remained listening to her father-in-law making conclusions in his head without knowing many details but she allowed him. She respected him too much and knew his intentions were good. If there was anyone in the Fitch household that had been on her side throughout the entire relationship was Rob Fitch and she really loved him for it.

"Emily would've never done something like that to you without some really good reason, Naomi…I know my daughter. I know she loves you. She'd never keep something that important from you if there weren't good reason for it."

_Emily's lie about Liam's birth certificate had been the straw that broke the camel's back on the edgy relationship they'd been having after Naomi had quit her job. Ever since they'd gotten married Emily and her had fallen into a perfect routine, where Naomi worked full-time and Emily stayed home with Liam and took care of it all while she did the cake decoration for Jenna's wedding-planning company. That had all worked out well, but when Jenna decided to retire and Emily started to find alternative gigs her cakes started to take on a bit of a cult following and this ended in Emily thinking about starting a business and excited about her career for the very first time. _

_At first this was heaven for Naomi, as she had always felt a bit guilty at placing the full burden of Liam and the house on Emily. She was too open-minded for that sort of patriarchal husband-and-wife type of relationship dynamic so Emily's business was a bit of a heaven-sent in her mind. So without an iota of a doubt, Naomi quit her job and found some consulting work and allowed Emily to flourish in her business. Things were going well for Emily, but for Naomi who hadn't a single ounce of 'housewife' behavior within her this proved to be quite a challenge. _

_On top of that Liam had been getting into trouble as he had started middle school and was facing bullying and some behavioral issues, something she'd never had to deal with before. To Liam, Naomi was the cool parent who always allowed him to do whatever he wanted and who'd usually be on his side when trying to get away from something he knew Emily wouldn't approve of. So at first disciplining the boy was quite a challenge and having to juggle her job, the house and a moody almost-teenaged Liam was definitely taking a toll on her. Even worse was when things for Emily went big and then…there was Mandy. _

_Mandy was another pastry-chef who met Emily an expo a few months prior to the dissolution of the wedding business. Emily and Mandy kept in touch through email and sometimes going for coffee or a drink. To Naomi, none of it ever seemed weird as Mandy was always very pleasant toward her and even got along with Liam. Naomi had never been much of a jealous person, and even less with Emily who she pretty much trusted with her life. And her wife going out with a friend sometimes actually helped because this meant she wouldn't feel so bad when she had to stay at long meetings or sometimes go on work trips and have to leave Emily and Liam alone for days. _

_So when Emily mentioned going into business by herself, Mandy thought it was a perfect idea and she decided to join her as her business partner and assistant. And at first Naomi was way too absorbed in dealing with her own tasks to even notice the tall-ogrey looking chef roaming around her wife like a shark surrounding a victim. Until an ill-intended comment did just the trick and then Naomi started to notice._

_"Of course I know she's with Mandy, she told me so…they are were at the cake expo in Manchester and then had to meet up with a client in Liverpool so Emily stayed at her Aunt Julie's…"_

_"Are you sure about that?" Effy asked with an eyebrow raised over to Freddy who sipped his tea in silence. _

_"What do you mean am I sure…of course I am sure. Why wouldn't I be sure of that? It's what Emily said she'd been doing."_

_"Alright well then, maybe she was just at the hotel meeting her clients…meetings can run well into the night I suppose." Freddy answered pretending to be oblivious to the seed he was about to plant in Naomi's mind about Emily. _

_"Yea, but 3 AM?" Effy said picking up her own cup and taking another sip. "Em is really betting all her marbles on this thing, isn't she Naoms?"_

"Like I said, I never trusted that bloke." Rob walked toward the bench where his daughter-in-law was now sitting having a smoke and still a bit caught up in all the things that were happening with Emily and Liam.

"I never trusted him either, but what I do? He's Liam's dad…right? Who am I to even try to get in between that? I am nobody, Rob…absolutely nobody…Emily is right when she was yelling at me the night she threw me out of the house. Liam is _her_ child and even if she had promised I'd be his second parent, maybe it was the best for all those things to happen and for me not to end up on his birth certificate."

"Naomi love, those things she said was said out of anger…Katie says it had all really gone to hell for you two and those things you did…"

"I know" Naomi looked at floor in both anger and pain at the thought of it all. She wasn't sure why it was she was still holding on this long, if she knew that there was no way any of this was ever going to be fixed. Her marriage, her family and her entire life had gone to shit because of all this and was no way to fix it.

"I am telling you that the only reason I agreed to this entire thing was because I wanted to make sure you were good. You've been like a father to me all these years and you don't know how much I appreciate that." Naomi said starting to tear up. "The only reason I'd even submit myself through all this torture is because of you."

"Are you sure about that?"

_"Hey, hey…you rest up, okay? You've hardly slept. That's why I came here…I'll take care of it."_

_"But Naomi…you don't have to…"_

_Naomi got up off the bed where her girlfriend was about to lie down for a nap after a long day of having two-year old Liam running a fever and with a cough. _

_"But I want to babe" Naomi answered after kissing Emily on the forehead and heading out the door to the aid of her girlfriend's son. _

_She should've left hours before but she couldn't leave them alone, Emily was working a huge project with the wedding business and she also had to take care of Liam all by-herself. And sometimes Naomi didn't know why it was that Emily had refused her the two times Naomi had mentioned that maybe living together would be a lot more practical, if they spend all their time together at home anyway. _

_But Naomi hadn't insisted too much because she knew (because of Katie and Cook) and also through a few comments from Emily that she was still a bit scared about pushing Naomi to take on responsibilities that weren't hers. So Naomi didn't push her, she knew that one day Emily would be ready and she'd realize that to Naomi, Liam and Emily weren't just a responsibility or a task to add on her daily to-do list. They were her entire world, and she loved them so much that she didn't really care if it took Emily an entire lifetime to realize that…she'd wait any time Emily needed as long as it meant that she could be nearby them. _

_"Hey mate" She picked Liam up from his crib and gave him a kiss on the forehead. "What's all this ruckus? You're not gonna let your mummy sleep at all this week?"_

_The baby talked to her a bit as she __walked over the dressed and picked up the thermometer and checked his temperature and sighed in relief to see it was normal, yet for some reason he was still a bit antsy and wouldn't stop crying ever now and then._

_"I know, it's be a very very long day." She said softly as she walked him around the room. "It's one for me too…that's why I think it's time for us both to go to bed very soon. Don't you agree?" _

_She yawned and her wrapped his arms around her neck as she kept on walking trying to see if he fell asleep but he wouldn't. _

_"You know what I do when I can't fall asleep?" She said as she caressed his back underneath his pyjama shirt. "I listen to music"_

_She looked around the room, trying to see if she could find her phone to find some music to sooth him but couldn't place it anywhere and anytime she tried to put him back down on his crib he'd start to fuss and wouldn't let her so she had no other choice…she had to improvise._

**_Today is gonna be the day. That they're gonna throw it back to you_**_. _

_She started to sing the first song that came into her head, one of her favorite songs and the first song she'd heard the day she'd met Emily. Suddenly she was smiling and remembering that night and wishing that Emily could realize how much she loved her and how much she wished she didn't have to go back home to her Gina's after this. _

_"I am sorry mate, I know this isn't a lullaby but my mum was a little bit crap…I don't know any lullabies."_

**_By now you should've somehow realized what you gotta do._**

_Why couldn't Emily see that she was dying to do all those things on a daily basis that she loved her and she loved Liam just as well. She wasn't even asking for much. She didn't need to get married yet or was asking her to adopt Liam or anything of that sort. She knew that Liam was Emily's child and it was up to her what she thought was best for him. _

**_I don't believe that anybody. Feels the way I do about you now._**

_But what she felt for her, for them…was a love that she had never experienced in her entire lifetime. When she was near them she felt complete, like she'd finally found that home…that family that she'd been seeking all those years where her and her mum would wander around living from commune to commune without a stable place to call her home. _

_With Emily and Liam she felt she could have that and even those small moments gave her hope. Being there, in that moment, with this little piece of heaven who was slowly falling asleep in her arms as she softly whispered an old song into his ears she knew that this is all she wanted. This is where she needed to be. This is where she belonged. _

_"Naomi" Emily said softly as the blonde turned around slowly and smiled at her girlfriend who she hadn't noticed had been standing at the door watching her for quite a few minutes now. _

_"I don't wanna do this alone anymore, baby…I want us to move in together."_


	13. Chapter 13

**Hi everyone, here's a little bit of the story. I've been quite busy but I'll try my best to update once I can. Thank you for following and your comments are great! **

**I don't own Skins or its character. I don't have a beta-reader, all mistakes are my own. **

* * *

_13_

"Mum?"

After hours of Emily being alone in the room crying, Emily started to drift off into sleep when she heard his voice.

"Liam?"

She woke up almost immediately and stood up off her chair and turned on the light she'd turned off a few minutes prior.

"Where am I?" He asked still unsure of what it was he was doing on a bed with a humongous pain in his head.

"You're in the hospital baby; you fell while running down the fountain hill and hit your head"

She pulled him over gently and kissed his still bandaged head and then caressed his face with the tips of her fingers.

He pressed his eyes together, still trying to get used to the light and the sounds around him which made his head spin just a bit. He was still very much in pain, very much still out of it until he looked around the room and noticed someone missing.

"Where's Naomi?" He asked a bit disheartened, with his hands over his eyes to cover the light that was still bothering him.

"Naomi?" his mum asked a bit confused as to the way her son was referring to the blonde, he'd never called her that. Ever.

"Yes, where is she? Why isn't she here with you?"

Emily sighed because in any other instance she would've yelled at her son for not calling Naomi mum, but as she watched him splayed into that bed with his eyes partly open, looking so frail, she decided otherwise.

"She had to stay outside because there was only one chair in here and we didn't wanna leave you alone."

"So she didn't leave?" Liam said moving his head toward the left to face his mum.

"No, why would you think she'd leave baby? You know you mum wouldn't do that."

"She's not my mum" He answered bitterly. "She doesn't have to be here, if she doesn't want to."

"Liam!" Emily demanded a bit upset at what her son was saying. Why was he being this way? He'd never had a doubt in his mind about his mum or how much she loved him. Why would he all of a sudden start to question her being there for him?

"Don't yell…my fucking head hurts. OK?" He said loudly as he turned away from her and covered himself with some blankets.

She didn't yell anymore at him, though she should've. She should've yelled at him right then and there about the rudeness and the swearing and the bitter words coming out of his mouth but she also couldn't blame him. She felt the same way he was feeling, only she didn't have the stamina to blurt it out the way he was doing.

"I am not gonna yell" She said whispering. "But that doesn't mean I am gonna allow you to talk to me that way...especially not about your mum"

"She's _not_ my mum…she's just your wife who just lived with us. Just like if you decided to move in with this Mandy woman now…would you like me to start to call her mum too?"

"That's not fair Liam" Her voice cracking as she tried not to yell at the way he was being. "You know very well, this isn't the same…"

_"So she started to cry?" _

_Katie was sitting with her sister having drinks at a pub nearby their flats as Cook and Naomi had joined together by their brother James and were watching a football game together. Naomi had taken Liam with her to allow his mummy and Auntie Katie to have some sister time by themselves. _

_She knew that Emily needed her time sometimes, even if they were living together already and things were going pretty great…Emily was still a bit uptight with everything that had to do with Liam and would often feel as if allowing Naomi to take care of him 'too much' was a burden toward her. _

_When in reality, Naomi loved being with her girlfriend's little boy. In fact, she had to sometimes stop herself from telling people at the supermarket and the park that it was her son when people stopped to admire him, which happened very often. _

_He was an enchanting little man, with dirty blonde hair and huge brown eyes that resembled those of Emily. The best part of all wasn't just his looks, but also that fiery personality that resembled his mum so much. He was a bit of a firecracker, this Liam….but she loved him so much not just because he was Emily's kid but but also because Liam was just lovable…she adored him and he seemed to adore her just as well. _

_"She cried" Emily said smiling widely while telling Katie the story of her son's first words. _

_"Aren't you jealous of it, though? I mean…you are his 'mama'…she's just…"_

_"She's not his mum, I know…but I think for some reason he just associated that word with her. I guess maybe it's because she spends so much time with him…I mean, she actually sits in the living room on the couch and chats with him for hours like she's talking to an adult…like he is actually listening and somehow answering back. It's so adorable; I have like 18 videos of it on my phone."_

_Emily extended her phone over to her sister who inspected one of the videos and smiled at watching her sister's girlfriend sitting on the couch with huge black frame glasses and a book in her hand while she spoke to her infant nephew about the state of the economy...as if he was actually listening. _

_And the sweetest part of all, was that he'd answer right back to her…he'd babble a few syllables and she'd answer him back and go on with the conversation. Even Katie, who wasn't a huge Naomi fan was oohing over the entire thing. _

_"You know this was like love at first sight too…I think she loves him more than she loves you." _

_"I know" Emily said caressing the still picture of the video on her phone. _

_"That's why…I don't know…I was just thinking…"_

_"Thinking what?"_

_"Well, I don't know what is and isn't legal yet…I'd have to check first but I was thinking of maybe…I don't know…maybe asking her if she'd like to, like, adopt him…like if it's legal, for her to be his mum as well…"_

_"Like a second-parent adoption?" Katie said as she took a sip of the drink that a waiter had just brought over to them. _

_"Is that what it's called?" Emily answered a bit astonished about Katie's answer. She usually wasn't very informed on such things. _

_"I've been researching about adoption…you know, for the future. Since I can't…you know…"_

_"Of course" Emily understood immediately and then held her hand out to her sister for comfort. She knew how much it'd hurt her to have to accept her condition, but she was glad she was now coming to terms with it. _

_"You know if you wanted to, I can always surrogate for you…if it's a possibility."_

_"I know…" Katie said smiling back at her twin. "But I actually was reading about everything, exploring all my options and for some reason I really started to take on the idea of adoption. It's like…yes, bringing a baby into the world that's your own flesh-and-blood is great but there are so many kids out there..all kinds of kids…alone in the world because of various circumstance. Maybe there's a reason for my illness, maybe it' because one of those kids needs me as a mum, you know…and it's like Liam and Naomi…you don't need to have their genes to love them just as much."_

_Emily smiled widely. She'd never heard such words come out of her sister's mouth. In fact, she actually started to shed a tear until Katie teased her about being such a wimp. _

_"So second-parent adoption, is what you said it's called?"_

_"Yea, I think that's what it is…I think that's when your partner adopts your kid…it's used a lot with gay couples, but also some straight ones who want to adopt their partner's child. That's what you were thinking, right?"_

_"Yea, something like that…I'd just. I don't know anything about it, yet…I haven't had time to research it too well but I heard they passed a law not too long ago about it. You know Naomi is the one that knows all this law stuff…I am such an idiot with these kinds of things…"_

_"So why not ask her to look into it then?"_

_"Well, I don't want her to, like, get her hopes up before it happens. I wanted to consult a lawyer but after we moved in she's been insisting I stay home with him all the time and so I am pretty much just working with you and mum now…I haven' t had external clients in a bit. So money is short, you know"_

_"Well, I'd tell you I'd lone you some money but we're also on a budget, Cook wants to finish the degree before we get married…so…"_

_"Oh no, that's not what I was asking. I was just…you know commenting."_

_"I know" Katie said sipping a bit more of her drink._

_"You know, Dad was talking about having to hire a legal team for the gym now that the opened the new branches up north, why don't you ask him for help?…or rather…ask mum because you know how dad get overwhelmed when it comes to paperwork stuff, you both are the same."_

_"Mum?" Emily said not very convinced. She wasn't sure if her mum would be okay with something like that considering how long it had taken her to even accept that Naomi was Emily's girlfriend. _

_"You think she'd wanna help me with this?"_

"Come on Naomi, I need your help with this…"

"I don't know Rob…I am really flattered, but I am not sure at the moment it's convenient, with what's happening…I don't think Emily would approve."

"Emily doesn't have anything to approve, love…she has no say on what I do or don't do with my company. Now don't say no without thinking about it…"

"I have nothing to think about Rob, I am no administrator…I've never done that type of work. I appreciate you wanting to offer the job to me, but I am not qualified…"

"Of course you're qualified…maybe you haven't done this _kind_ of work but you've got the qualities of the person I am looking for…"

"What are those?"

"You're trustworthy, clever, hardworking…and most of all, you are family."

"I am not family Rob…I _was_ family."

"You still are family, Naomi…you're still my grandson's mum and a paper with or without your name on it doesn't make it any difference."

Naomi stopped for a minute and looked at the elder Fitch's warm eyes and huge grin and then walked the three steps dividing them and pulled the old man into a hug.

"Pardon" A voice familiar to both came from behind them. "Emily sent me down to get you both. Liam woke up and she wants to see you."

It was Jenna Fitch.

_"Adoption? What are you bloody insane? You've been dating this woman for only a few months Emily…"_

_"It's been two years and going mum…and I am not just dating her we are living together and she loves him and has been with me every step of the way, more than anyone else…"_

_"That's because you haven't allowed anyone else to be part of it…you refused to allow Frederick to participate…"_

_"I didn't refuse mum, I told him he could see him from time to time but he doesn't have to have any responsibilities with him"_

_"Of course he did, he is Liam's dad"_

_"No, he isn't his dad…donating sperm doesn't make you a father, mum"_

_"He didn't exactly donate the sperm Emily, it isn't like you bought his sperm off a bank…you were together."_

_"It was a mistake…our relationship was a mistake, I was confused about who I was and then you and Katie were practically forcing me…"_

_"Nobody forces you to be with anyone…"_

_"That's exactly my point…that's why I decided against Freddy having any rights, he didn't want them anyway. He was clear about it…he said either I be with him and get married or I could have the child on my own. He better be glad I even allow him to see him sometimes…he doesn't deserve it."_

_Jenna shook her head at what she was hearing from her daughter. In all the years she'd lived she'd never heard such nonsense. How could Emily refuse to be with her son's father, who was a hardworking, loyal, family-man over a cockamamie romance with some woman whose idea of a job was protesting and rallying against all that was decent and good?_

_"Well, either way…I don't think I can help you with any of this. And don't bother asking your dad either, he's not gonna support it…you know he had his heart set on you and Fred marrying so that he can have someone trustworthy help him with the gym, now that we've decided to expand."_

_Emily was heartbroken at the thought that her parents were still being so difficult about her lifestyle. While it was true that this was her life and she was living it like she wanted to, she also hated that they couldn't accept her. Throughout her life, family had been everything to her. The Fitches were nothing if not a tight-knit group. Their family, even the extended one was always there for them from both sides and the way her mum was treating her…the way she dismissed her decisions about her life and the life of her son really pained her. It made her wish things were just easier. Why was it so hard to understand that all she wanted to do was be happy with the person she loved and be a family? Why was so hard about understanding love?_


	14. Chapter 14

**Hi my peeps, I hope everyone had a good holiday and that your Monday back (at work, school, whatever) isn't too rough. As usual, thanks a lot for following and your comments. I like them a whole lot, some of you are really putting thought into this whole thing and that's amazing because that means you're really like it! I makes me glad. :) **

**To the Mandy haters and the Freddy haters, what can I say? Nobody in the history of Naomily has ever liked the woman and truthfully I am not a big Freddy fan (sorry if you are, but to me he's the worse gen 2 character) so I don't blame you for hating him too. Hopefully as the story moves along you understand the whys and hows of it all and could change your minds, but who knows...maybe you won't. **

**So here's chapter 14. Disclaimer is as usual, no beta and character's aren't mine (except Liam, of course.) Here it is...**

* * *

_14_

"Am I interrupting anything?" Naomi walked into her son's room leaving Rob and Jenna behind and she found Emily and Liam talking to an elder doctor who was facing toward them.

"Not at all, in fact we were waiting for you…Mrs…"

"Campbell, Naomi…this is my wife and Liam's mum" Emily said walking toward Naomi and holding her hand. Naomi looked down toward their hands and then back up at the doctor and then walked over to her son and gave him a kiss on the forehead.

"How are you feeling mate?" Naomi said to him as he smiled and told he had a bit of a headache.

They all small talked with the doctor for some time and then after a bit of conversation he went on to a more serious topic.

"Like Doctor Thompson the neurologist mentioned before, we ran tests to determine that Liam had no cerebral damage because of the concussion and thankfully it all looks clear so we are definitely very glad about those result, however…"

"However?" Emily said as she moved closer toward Naomi who was now standing next to Liam, holding his hand as he sat on the bed.

"We must determine the reason for the fall…we've been checking the report from the paramedic and whilst it is true that Liam's glucose level were low, they weren't low enough to have a syncope that would cause him to lose consciousness. Now Liam, prior to your mother Naomi coming in you were discussing the fact that you do not remember anything beyond when you started to walk down to the house… you were saying that you just felt a bit out of breath…is that correct?"

"Yea sir" Liam answered with a faint voice as he grabbed on to Naomi's arm to pull her closer.

"Now we've ran all tests that we deemed necessary and all your results have come back clear so far…that's why I was called in… because these results lead Dr. Thompson to believe that there might be other factors involved in the fainting spell you had…psychological factors perhaps…"

"Psychological?" Emily interrupted a bit concerned with what she as hearing.

"Now Liam, have you ever felt something like this before?…have you ever had loss of consciousness? Fainting spells? Weird dizziness?"

"No, never" Emily answered for him before Liam could say anything.

"Actually…" Naomi interrupted. "He did…not too long ago, right mate? When I picked you up from school early that day…when was that, last week?"

"You picked him up from school early?" Emily stood up off the bed and looked at her son and ex-wife inquisitively.

"Yea, it was like…last Tuesday…or was it Wednesday? You said your mum didn't answer the phone and you weren't feeling well."

Naomi looked at Liam who was now avoiding her eyes and then at Emily's sour face and then went on to explain it to the doctor.

"The nurse said he'd been out in the sports field and felt a little dizzy and they'd brought him in. I took him for some food and then drove him home and he said he'd texted you and you were okay…right Liam?"

Naomi looked back at her son who was still trying to avert his eyes to avoid looking at either one of his mums.

"You never texted me…why didn't you text me? Why would you keep something like that from me Liam?" Emily demanded immediately.

"You were with Mandy" He said with pain his voice. "I called you before sports to tell you I didn't feel like being there and you said if I could wait an hour you could swing by and pick me up because you had something more important to do…"

"And I would've picked you up an hour later, just like I always do…"

"Yea, but then I heard _her_ voice…"

"And you hung up on me…told me to forget it and that you were almost out of battery and was going into practice…Liam!"

"What? I didn't wanna see her, OK? I knew if you were together you'd come with her…I wanted to see mum and so I called her. I missed her."

Emily looked at her son with pain in her eyes at hearing the emotion in his voice. She then looked at the doctor a minute and looked at the floor immediately.

"So you didn't have a fainting spell that day, then?" Naomi interrupted with a croak in her voice after hearing about Emily being with Mandy.

"I did…I started to feel a bit out of breath at first and then my head started spinning but the coach didn't care…he threw a sports drink at me and told me to drink a bit and get back to the field."

Naomi shook her head in frustration and swore to herself that she'd get that coach fired as soon as she got back to Bristol.

"Is that when you fainted?" the doctor asked, trying to get a better assessment of what was happening.

"Not right then and there…I started to do laps around the field like we always do to warm up...I did like did one and a half and then suddenly I felt really dizzy and I held on to my mate Charlie who was in front of me and then it all went black for a second."

"Just for a second?" The doctor inquired, writing some notes in a writing pad he had brought with him.

"What felt like a second. Charlie put me down on the floor then I heard everyone sort of yelling around me. The coach ran over and tried to get me to drink some more of that blue stuff but I couldn't swallow…so they pulled me up and took me to the nurse."

"That's when you called your mum?"

"Yea" He said holding on to Naomi's hand. "She answered right away and was there faster than I thought."

The doctor looked at Naomi who had now sat on the edge of the bed and was holding on to Liam and sometimes kissing him on top of his head and then looked at Emily who was facing away from them with her arms crossed.

"She always comes through when I call her."

_"Jesus Christ, what happened here?" _

_Emily ran into the exam room where the front desk clerk at the emergency center had told her Liam had been taken. She'd been at a huge warehouse buying a bulk of confectionery sugar for a huge wedding that was gonna be held that weekend and the noise hadn't allowed her to hear her phone so when she got the voice-mail from Naomi telling her that she was in the hospital with Liam, she panicked._

_"It's nothing" Liam told his mum with his left arm in a cast and sipping from a juice box and laughing at his other mum who was sitting on a stretcher getting her arm casted as well. "I fell off my board"_

_Naomi looked at her sheepishly and then back a Liam who kept on laughing watching her face of horror at his having revealed to his mum that she had, in fact, bought him the skateboard that Emily had said he wasn't going to get. _

_Emily wasn't against skateboarding or anything of that sort…in fact, she was the kind of girl who jumped into lakes, rode mopeds and even bungee jumped in her day but when it came to Liam she'd become a lot more careful. _

_She didn't know what it was or where he had learned it all but much to the demise of her nervous system, her now 10-year old son had become quite the little daredevil and had pestered his mum (Naomi) to play accomplice to each and every crazy scheme that defied the laws of physics that he could get his hands on. Emily blamed it a bit on Naomi, and also a bit on his uncle Cook who would amp him on to do all kinds of crazy things that Emily did not find appropriate for a kid his age. _

_"He's a lad, Emilio…that's what kids his age live for. You know how many broken bones I had in my day? The nurse at school had my mum's phone number on speed-dial."_

_Between Naomi and Cook, they'd allow Liam to do whatever he wanted and in a way this irked Emily just a bit. Even worse was the idea that Liam's dare-devilish ways weren't just a coincidence, but rather more of an inheritance. And Emily hated to be reminded of that, especially these days when Freddy wasn't exactly her favorite person in the world. Not after what he had done. _

_"He's bound to love this kind of stuff, babe, Effy was telling me that Freddy was the same way when he was younger…she met him after he almost rammed into her dad's car whilst on his skateboard on the first day of college"_

_"That's not the point Naomi…the point is that none of this is safe! And the worse part of all is that you just love to go against each and every single thing that I prohibit…it only takes me saying no to something when you run and allow him to do it. How do you think this makes me look like in front of my son? Like a fucking imbecile…that's how!"_

_Emily hated that Naomi was so friendly with Effy and Freddy, though she knew that it came from a good place. And up to just recently Emily had been just fine with Freddy and Effy being in part of her son's life, in fact, she was actually kind of glad that they were. Up to then it all went pretty smoothly as Freddy and Effy were really good to her son and that made Emily glad to have them around, especially in the last few weeks with what had been going on between her and Naomi. _

_During this rough time, Effy and Freddy had taken Liam with them on a long trip and this had given Emily and Naomi time to work out the rough spots without having to have Liam be a witness to it all. The least she had wanted was for Liam to have to suffer for their mistakes, so having Effy and Freddy there as a buffer had been heaven-sent. _

_But after what she'd found out just a couple of days ago they weren't her favorite people anymore, not by a long shot. Though of course, after what'd been going on lately she knew she couldn't tell anything to Naomi, at least not until she found out if there was gonna be a way to fix it. She knew that if Naomi ever found out what had been going a huge bomb would explode and it would hurt their already fragile relationship…The least she wanted to do right now was cause anyone any pain. _

_ "That explains his cast…what about yours?"_

_Naomi looked at her without knowing how to explain herself. "Well…he…"_

_"He what?" Emily with a crease in her forehead and anger in her eyes. _

_"He was being a bit difficult and kinda almost kicked the nurse when she tried to cast his arm…so I promised him that I'd get a cast just like his if he held still."_

_"You what?!" Emily said now really upset at her wife. "Naomi, the fucking wedding is in two weeks. You are the best mate or the best maid or whatever the hell Cook calls it…you're in ALL the fucking pictures! You know Katie is gonna have off with your head!" _

_"It's just for now" Naomi whispered to Emily while Liam was walking over toward a bag of crisps another nurse had brought for him from the vending machine. "I couldn't back down after he behaved so well, didn't even flinch…but I can get this removed anytime…right?" She said to the nurse who was wrapping her arm. _

_"You are unbelievable…" Emily answered and then she walked over to Liam and took him by the hand and walked out. "We'll be outside"_

"I am going outside, this is ridiculous" Emily said still a bit upset with Liam and Naomi about keeping this whole thing from her.

"Come on Emily, don't be like that…he probably just forgot to tell you"

"No, he didn't…he always does this. It's like I am some kind of a joke to the both of you. Nobody listens to me, nobody cares what I think…I am the one that always has to nag and fight and put everyone in place. It's not fair."

"Mum, I am sorry…I didn't wanna tell you because I thought you'd be upset. You've been doing nothing but fighting with each other and I didn't wanna cause another fight. I was feeling like crap and I wanted to see her. She's my mum too, you know."

Liam couldn't contain the tears that started to stream from his eyes as soon as he said that. The truth was that this entire thing with his mums was driving him completely insane and he wanted it to stop and it seemed like every time he tried things just got worse.

Not only had he gotten hurt but he'd also revealed everything to his grandfather and now his mum was upset…he suddenly felt like he could do nothing to stop the inevitable avalanche of pain that was coming toward him. So he cried and both Naomi and Emily held him with tears in their eyes.

"I think with all you've told me I have no doubt that my suppositions about what went on were correct" the doctor said as he placed the clipboard down on the end of the bed and held his hand to touch the tip of Liam's foot as all three of them looked back up at him.

"What you suffered that day in the sports field…and possibly before you fell as well is a sort of anxiety attack most likely from excessive stress…quite possibly because of your current family situation…"

_"Hey, hey…come here…" Katie said as she held on to her nephew by the shoulders and then pulled him into a hug. It had been years since she had done that because though Liam was quite an affectionate child, Katie wasn't exactly a hugger and she usually set up the excuse of getting her clothes dirty or her make-up and hair undone when people did that. _

_But in that instance, at that very moment she had no choice but to hug this little boy who she'd seen grow up into a lanky young man already a bit taller than herself as a stream of tears flooded his deep brown eyes. _

_"I can't do this anymore" He said with desperation in his voice. "This is driving me crazy"_

_"I know love, but this is gonna pass…alright?"_

_Katie tried to calm him down, but it was hard for her to see him this way. All that was happening had come toward them like a domino effect and suddenly all of their worlds were falling apart, and she had no way of stopping it. _

_"It hasn't passed Aunt Kay, she's still with her…she still goes out with her and she calls her at all times of the day and I fucking HATE that woman!"_

_"Babes, please don't use foul language…you know how much your mum hates it when you swear."_

_"I don't care…I hate her too...I hate her so much that I don't even care what she thinks."_

_"You don't hate her darling…you love your mum…you know you do. That's why this is hurting you so much, but if this is what your mum wants…"_

_"This isn't what she wants. I know that it isn't. She isn't happy, all she does is cry except when that Mandy is with her. I know she missed her, why can't she forgive her? Why is she doing this? Mum didn't do anything! I know she didn't."_

_"Darling, there are certain things that adults do that kids…"_

_"No…don't give me that…I am not a child Aunt Katie…you all see me as child but I am not one! I know what's going on. Mum was mad at her for being jealous of this Mandy. Well, she should be jealous! It's her wife and this woman is trying to take her away…"_

_"Liam, you don't know what you're talking about."_

_But that wasn't entire true. Liam did know exactly what he was talking about, though of course there were a lot more details that he was unaware of. But He knew way more than Katie had expected, though of course because he did not know the details of it all which were that Naomi was a lot more than just being jealous of Mandy. She'd gone all out insane over this whole thing. _

_For months now, ever since Freddy and Effy had purposely planted the doubt on Naomi's mind the blonde had become a complete disaster. From then on she had done nothing but doubt everything that Emily told her and question each and every single action by Emily's part._

_And though Emily, at that moment, was innocent of having anything to do with Mandy…Naomi's increasingly outlandish displays of jealousy started to slowly tear their relationship apart. So in a few months, their relationship had gone from a little bumpy to all-out ballistic. And the constant fights, jealousy fits and the pressure was starting to tear Emily down to the last of her wits. _

_Worse part of all was that she didn't know, she wasn't even sure why it was that Naomi had started to become this crazy overnight because Naomi refused to tell her anything. Naomi's paranoia over Emily lying to her about the birth certificate ordeal had convinced her that maybe this person she had been with for so many years wasn't the person she thought she was. so she never told her. She kept it all inside and spewed it back out to Emily in the worse possible way, in the most painful way of all. In the way that hurt Emily the most because Naomi was the most hurt she'd ever been in her entire lifetime. _

_For Naomi this betrayal was completely painful because ever since she had met Emily she had been nothing but honest and open with her. She's opened up and placed all of herself…her raw emotions, her entire heart in the hands of this woman that she thought she'd trusted…this woman that she thought loved her just as much as she did. _

_But now these lies, her odd behavior with this Mandy, and her reactions toward Naomi's jealousy were showing her a completely different side of Emily. _

_All of a sudden, in Naomi's heart Emily wasn't the sweet, kind, loving woman she'd fallen for but rather she was just as calculating, manipulative and deceiving as her mother was._

_ Jenna Fitch was just as two-faced as they made them and for years she'd asked herself how it was that a kind man like Rob Fitch had fallen into the web of this venomous spider. Now she knew. She knew that he had been blinded by love just like she had. _

_So Naomi pushed and she fought and she yelled, hoping that Emily would prove her wrong somehow. She hoped and wished that Emily would sacrifice herself a bit and notice that Naomi was hurting and take notice. _

_But Emily did just the opposite because all of this had fallen on top of her without any notice when she wasn't even looking. Because from one day to the next her entire world was falling apart and the person she'd relied on to be her rock was the one that was stoning her to death. And she didn't know why. _

_Liam didn't know why either, he just knew it was happening. And so Katie held on to him and hoped that he'd be able to handle it. She knew that it was gonna be tough and she would try to be there for him as much as she could. But she knew deep inside he needed Emily and Naomi to be with him and they needed to stop running from each other. So she did the only thing she thought she could do. She pulled them back together, even just one last time. _

_"Mum, the venue for your party in June cancelled on me last minute and we are gonna have to go with a different date. How does two weeks from today sound for your vow renewal ceremony?"_


	15. Chapter 15

**Hi guys, guess what? I can't sleep at all tonight and this means another update for you. I am very happy to read all your comments and your messages and know that everyone is truly enjoying the story. I am enjoying writing it and I hope I make it justice. **

**I wanted to especially thank SexySacer for her kind words and comments. I am glad you (and everyone) is liking it and I promise that everything that has happened will be revealed in due time. :)**

**As per usual, I have no beta-reader and Skins doesnt belong to me. Good day everyone...here's comes 15...**

* * *

_15_

"So what are you recommendations on this whole thing then?"

Naomi was tired of fighting. So instead of continuing the same old row they'd been having about Liam's preference of her instead of Emily she finally decided to consult the doctor. She knew this couldn't go on this way anymore.

"In the case of Liam, we have several methods that might help him deal with this situation as soon as possible. In most cases, it is necessary to prescribe medication to control the most immediate symptoms…"

"Medication?" Emily inquired rapidly. "No…no medications. Not if we can avoid them."

Naomi looked immediately at her and smiled. She knew how much the subject of psychiatric medications were an issue to Naomi as she had (reluctantly) been placed on some when she was about Liam's age after she'd found out that her father had passed away from a drug overdose. While it was true that Naomi hardly knew her dad, he'd fucked off when she was about seven…the news of it had come so suddenly and been so shocking to both her and her mum that by the time Gina was even able to pick herself up to console her daughter it was already too late and Naomi had gone into a horrible depression that had taken a complete toll in her life.

It had taken away great years of her youth, being medicated and in therapy without much result at all. It wasn't until she met her best mate Cook that she actually started to recuperate and was able to have her life back. Cook's cheerful and care-free influence had changed Naomi and this was the reason why he was her best mate. With him Naomi had learned to chill-out and enjoy life and had started to become open about all topics.

With Cook in her life, Naomi quit the medication and started to fend for herself. She finished Uni, she got a job in London, she started to going out and having fun. Her life changed completely and the least she ever wanted to do was have her son be so reliant upon medication. And Emily knew all of this and she understood how important this subject was to Naomi. And what was important to Naomi (even at the worse possible moments in their lives) was just as important to Emily. So she supported her in this topic, just like she always had.

"We prefer no meds" Naomi said with a softer tone as she slowly moved her hand right next to her ex-wives' and intertwined their fingers. "We'll do anything to avoid them"

"Yea" Emily agreed and looked at Naomi who looked back at her with a very soft smile. "Anything."

The doctor pretended not to look at the loving gesture and instead looked at Liam who was a bit lost in his own thoughts.

"What do you think we should do, son?" The doctor asked Liam, mostly to get him to react to what was happening.

"I don't know" Liam answered sadly.

"What do you recommend doc? Naomi said a bit worried at seeing her son so sad.

"Without meds, the only other way to treat anxiety due to excessive stress is therapy for the patient, so that he or she can sort out their feelings and sort of figure out where the stress is coming from and then find ways of dealing and coping with it correctly." The doctor explained.

"In this case, just by observation and by what we had talked about a bit before, it looks like we have successfully determined that the high stress is coming from the family situation that you are all in at the moment."

Naomi looked down at the floor feeling suddenly shit about playing such a huge part on what was happening to their son, at the sight of that Emily held her hand a bit tighter and smiled at her sort of letting her know they were gonna be able to fix it.

"Because this separation is going to be a stressful situation, regardless of what decisions are made I think the best approach in this is case, since we cannot eliminate the cause of the stress, is to add on outlets…"

"Outlets?" Emily inquired.

"Yes, outlets…activities and actions with which all three of you can sort of let out the frustration of this situation…"

"So like, exercise?"

"Yes, exercise is a very good one son…you're well informed" the doctor said smiling at Liam who had finally started to listen.

"I started to read up on this stuff" Liam confessed as both his mum's looked up at him a bit proudly. Despite the fact that this was a horrible time he had always tried to make the best out of any situation.

"Reading up on things is a very good tool on coping with them Liam" the doctor said to a smiling the boy as Naomi and Emily both also smiled along with them. "You two should be very proud. You've got a very smart lad sitting here."

"He takes after his mum" Emily said as she placed her hand on Naomi's cheek and caressed it lightly.

_"You're gonna drive me insane with this, you know…completely insane…"_

_"I don't care…now shut up and drink this up babe. It's what the book recommends!"_

_"The book? Which one? The three you bought yesterday or the two you downloaded this morning? This is becoming an obsession Naomi…and I am NOT drinking this…ackkkk…it's green…"_

_Emily was in the second trimester of her pregnancy and though some of the more violent symptoms (like nausea, dizziness and vomiting) had tapered out a bit she hadn't been able to rest up too well as she now had Naomi on her arse about each and every little meticulous detail of the pregnancy from what she could do...what she could have…what she could eat and this drove the little redhead insane. _

_"Of course it's green; it has green apples, ginger, kale, lemons and spirulina for iron…"_

_"Spiru-what?" Emily said looking at the dark green concoction that her girlfriend was trying to convince her that she needed to drink every morning instead of her normal breakfast. _

_"Spirulina, it's a type of algae…"_

_"An algae? What do I look like to you a marine animal? Is that why you are force-feeding me algae now?"_

_"What?…no…" Naomi was suddenly stupefied by the seriousness in Emily's face when asking her this. _

_"That's what I am to you…a marine animal…a whale…that's what you're saying…I am a fucking whale with this huge belly?." Emily said so upset she was about to start to cry at what she assumed her girlfriend was trying to imply. _

_"No…baby….no…that's not what I said…" Naomi answered nervously. "I never said you were a whale and yes…you've gain a bit of weight, but that's normal…"_

_"Oh my gosh…you DO think I am fat?…is that why you're not having sex with me anymore?"_

_"Emily we had sex like three times this morning…"_

"That sounds like a lot of fun…" The doctor answered smiling at Liam who after much inquiring was now going on about the last time he felt like everything was okay.

"It was…we all loved going on that trip. Right mama?" Liam didn't notice when he said it, but when both Naomi and Emily heard him call her that they smiled even wider than they had for a while.

Ever since this entire thing had started, for whatever reason Liam had stopped being so affectionate with either one of them and had even retracted himself from calling them the way he had called his entire life. And in a way Naomi and Emily had both decided to let it lide; not even mentioning the fact but rather ignoring it and just getting used to it though it was weird for them both.

And the change in attitude had been very bad for Naomi, it had been even worse for Emily who up to then had an adoration for her little boy. Though it was true that Naomi and Liam were inseparable, Emily was still the one he went to when he was feeling tired, sick or hopeless. When all was at its worse, no matter how much he loved Naomi, Liam would go looking for his mama's arms and this is what hurt Emily so much because this entire thing had broken that bond she had with her child and suddenly she had started to even feel as though he hated her. And this broke her heart even more than it was already being broken.

This separation was extremely hard on Emily, who had up to then still unaware of what had been happening. To her, what was happening with Naomi was completely strange as they had never gone through something that severe in their relationship. The only other time they'd ever fought so harshly had been a couple of years prior with the Sophia thing…but even that hadn't managed to separate them for far too long.

So slowly losing Naomi and also losing her son had suddenly started to take a toll on Emily, who was already so busy with her new work that she didn't know how to handle herself.

"You sure it's alright? I just need to get out of the house for a bit. Katie stayed with Liam and I just need to vent…I can't take it anymore. I don't even know what's wrong with her. She's driving me crazy. "

"I understand…I am here for you Em, you know I've always been here. You're not alone in this. Whatever is going on with Naomi, whatever happens…you'll always have me here."

And Mandy had taken advantage of it all; in fact she had jumped on it like the last Coca-Cola at the desert. This was all too convenient, all too brilliant as she had waited for quite a bit for something like this to come up. But she knew, somehow, she had the sensation that this happy-couply-lovey-dubey crap that Naomi and Emily lived was a bubble waiting to be burst. And she had been standing right outside waiting for it to all go down so she was there to pick up the pieces.

"Yes baby, that's right…, we all loved it. We had so much fun!" Emily answered her very enthusiastically.

"I think that was the most fun we'd had since we took you to Disney World that time…remember that?" Naomi added, making Emily a bit sad at the thought. Though that trip had been great fun for Naomi and Liam, for her it hadn't been all that fun. In a way, she kind of wished they had never gone anywhere.

_After all the confusion with Naomi's stalker, Sophia, and the change of roles in their relationship things had started to get on a bit roughly with their family, so a few weeks before Liam's 10th birthday Emily had decided it would be a great idea if they all took a trip to America to visit Disney World, like they (both Liam and Naomi…because Naomi was a bit of a child) had always wanted. _

_So that morning she headed over her parents' house in search of some paperwork she was sure she had gotten back from her mum a few years prior but for some reason didn't appear in her in her safe box. _

_"What are you doing here?"_

_"I am here for some paperwork that I am missing from the safe at home…"_

_"What paperwork?"_

_"Liam's birth certificate…I could swear you had given it back to me that time after we signed the adoption paperwork with Naomi with your lawyer, but now that I think about it I don't think you did…"_

_"I am pretty sure I did, sweetie…"_

_"I don't think so, mum, can't you just look? We are trying to see about getting his passport and stuff done this week so that we can take him to Orlando for his birthday…he's gonna flip out."_

_"You know, you spoil that child way too much…two weeks ago he went on that camping trip with Frederick and his wife and now you're taking him to Disney…does he even attend school anymore?"_

_"Come on mum, stop changing the subject and please look for it in your safe…I need to get back because I've got a meeting with some clients…you don't even have to be here, just open the safe and I'll look through it."_

_"No" Jenna said a bit upset at Emily's insistence. Up to now she had been able to hide what she had done from her daughter and Naomi by relying on the fact that Emily was not just a bit naïve but also rather disorganized when it came to keeping paperwork and legal matters. _

_So what she had done a few years ago had gone unnoticed and everything was alright. But though she knew this day would come and it would cause lots of turmoil, she did not expect it to come at the worst possible time. _

_Rob was now sick, his blood pressure had been way too high and the doctors had recommended rest and very little stress in his life and now was when this bomb was about to explode? She had to stop it somehow. _

_"What do you mean no? It takes a minute mum…please don't make me have to go apply for a copy of it…that takes so long. You know how much I hate doing all that stuff…"_

_"I mean no because I don't have it here. It's in the safe at the bank. Your dad decided to keep the most important stuff there since we've been travelling back and forth from Glasgow to here. He feels it's safer there. I'll pop by later and I'll retrieve it for you. I'll call you when I have it."_

_Emily looked at her mum a bit suspiciously as it was very odd for her not to look at her straight in the eyes. But as Emily was Emily, she believed in people (even in her mum who had shown to be nothing more than a selfish cow her entire life) so she kissed her on the cheek and left her parents' house sure that she'd be able to get all things sorted for their trip to Disney with her son and wife very soon. _

_This vacation was bound to be magical, a fresh-start after the small bump that this Sophia had caused in their life. But what she didn't realize was that though the trip was gonna be the most memorable to both her son and wife, to Emily this was gonna be the single worse holiday of her entire life. _

"I think we should take another trip…together" Liam interrupted Emily's train-of–thought. "Don't you think that'd be a great idea Dr. Ferguson?"

After a few minutes of chatting with the doctor, Liam had become a lot more enthused…especially because during their chat he had started to notice the sudden closeness his mums were sharing…holding hands, Emily caressing Naomi's cheek, smiling at each he didn't want to get his hopes up, but he couldn't help it. He was convinced that despite it all being so bad there was something his mums couldn't deny (to him or the rest of the world). They were still in love. That was evident to everyone.

And maybe Liam was only 13 and he could not possibly know about the complications of adult relationships and the consequences of his mothers' past and present actions…but what he did know…what he was an expert at was seeing his mums love each other. That's why he was so affectionate and kind to his family, his friends and the people around him…it was because if there was anything that Naomi and Emily had taught their boy was to love and be loved. So he knew and believed that all they needed was to remember how much they were in love. And he was gonna try to make that happen. Luckily, now he had the perfect tools to do so.

"Well" the doctor said smiling. "I don't recommend that you take a trip right at this instant because we still need you to heal, you do have quite a gash in your head from the fall. But I don't see why you couldn't after Dr. Thompson gives you the release…but of course that's something that you'd have to discuss further with your mums…"

"So when do you think I'll be able to? Can we go on a trip soon, mama...please…"

Emily rolled her eyes a bit at seeing her son's puppy-dog look that she'd learned perfectly from Naomi.

"Actually I had planned on taking some time off of work…so I don't see why not…"

"Yes…thank you! That's gonna be great, you're coming with us, right mummy?"

Naomi hadn't said a word up to then about anything because all of a sudden she had started to feel excluded, as if she maybe didn't belong in this entire conversation.

"Me? I don't think when you mum said you could go she meant me too…" Naomi said pulling her hand away from Emily so suddenly. "I am pretty sure her girlfriend…"

"She's not my girlfriend" Emily corrected her immediately and then crossed her arms.

"Well, either or…I really couldn't take a trip right now…I just got a new job offer and I haven't worked out the details but I am pretty sure they need me to start soon…"

"You got a job already? Did the shelter get their funding back?" Emily inquired.

"No, it's not with the shelter…it's somewhere else." Naomi answered, trying not to reveal anything.

"Where? It's in Bristol, right?"

Emily wasn't sure why Naomi's face had changed, maybe it was the mention of Mandy but she wasn't convinced that was it. It was something else. It had to do with the job.

"Well, it's actually here…for a bit. I'll be here a few weeks and the maybe back to Bristol after that…"

"Here? In Glasgow? Who the heck would ever give you a job here?"

"I did" Rob said walking in with Katie and James who had finally arrived to see their nephew. "I am sorry If I am interrupting, but we heard the visiting times were almost through and these two were dying to see him."

"That's alright" Doctor Ferguson said. "We are actually all done here, you're welcome to visit but I do believe it must be two people at a time…I am gonna pretend there aren't an extra three people in here…I will sign my release and the nurse will work out the details for continued care."

The doctor took off almost immediately leaving James, Katie and Rob in the room with Liam as Jenna had decided to stay outside in the waiting area by herself .

Taking advantage of the extra family in the room, Naomi and Emily had decided to go out and get a drink and stretch their legs a bit. Liam still had to stay there an extra night.

"You gonna take a job with my dad then? Here in Glasgow?" Emily asked still a bit shaken at the news that Naomi had just revealed.

"Is that okay with you? It's only gonna be the few months until all of Cook's legal issues get sorted. I needed a job and your dad needed a hand and he needs someone trustworthy to take over for a bit because he's starting to get too tired to work full time."

"What about Freddy?"

The question hit Naomi a bit hard because for her Freddy was definitely not the definition of trustworthy, and she wasn't wrong about not trusting him, even though Emily did. Though if Emily was true to herself, she shouldn't trust him as much as she still did…not after what him and Jenna had done.

"What about him?" Naomi answered, almost mocking Emily's question. As if the thought of Freddy taking over the gyms was the most ridiculous question in the world. As if he hadn't been working as a manager with Fitch Fitness for longer than anyone else in the company, except for Rob.

"Well, I thought maybe since he has been there for so long…and you know he _is _related."

Emily almost didn't wanna say it, because she didn't wanna break the nice groove that Naomi and her had been having inside while talking to Dr. Ferguson and Liam.

"Yea well, don't ask me about it…ask your dad why it is he doesn't trust him." she answered in a very harsh voice.

She punched in the number on the vending machine she'd been playing around for a while and after retrieving her drink she started walking away from Emily who was left alone with her thoughts.

She walked over toward Jenna Fitch, who had been sitting on the other side of the waiting area reading the bible by herself the entire time and she sat next to her.

For a moment they sat quietly next to one another, the tension still evident from the last words she'd just had with her ex-wife.

"This isn't her fault" Jenna finally said in a faint voice. "If this is anyone's fault, it's all mine."

"What?"

"Robert is right…I am the one who did all this. I was the one who made this entire thing happen and if something happens to my Liam because of this…" Jenna said now starting to cry. "If anything happens to _him_ I will never ever be able to forgive myself for that."


	16. Chapter 16

**Here's another bit of the story. Been quite busy but I wanna make sure I move this along. As always, thanks soooo very very much for all your comments/follows/favs you guys are the best. I am very glad you're enjoying the story. **

**There's a tiny bit of this chapter that is bit personal to me because it deals with people's beliefs and how that affects their actions for the good or the bad. I lived through something similar with my parents and it was rather painful and it brought upon huge consequences. **

**I think people do things because of fear, not necessarily because they are 'pure evil'. Sometimes their convictions (or ambitions) lead them to hurt others and its unfair. I hope that in the case of our characters we still have time to fix it. **

**As stated, I don't have a beta-reader so all mistakes are mine and I don't own Skins so the characters are theirs...most, a least. Here comes chapter 16...**

* * *

_16_

Naomi Campbell wasn't a violent person. If there was one thing that she'd learned from her crazy all-you-need-is-love hippy mum was that nothing good ever resulted from violence, but right there and then…outside in the hospital waiting room she felt like she might just explode with insuperable rage for this woman who had once bared the love of her life in her on womb and punch her right in the face. Because after what she had just heard Jenna Fitch reveal to her, there was nothing in the world that this woman deserved more than to have someone throw her down and beat her to pieces. Luckily for Jenna, Naomi wasn't that kind of woman.

"You did what!?"

"I falsified them…those papers, the ones you signed at my house back then. There were false papers, that was a false notary…"

"And Emily knew?"

"Noooo...She didn't know… she had no clue what I had done. To her those papers were all real…"

"But…fuck me Jenna…why the fuck would you? Why would you fucking do that? Why would you lie that way? Do you really hate me that much? Am I really so bad that you rather commit a fucking felony and risk jail-time than have me as your family?"

Naomi's words fell right out of her mouth with complete and utter pain, because despite the fact that she knew she had never been the apple of her mother-in-law's eyes, she never thought for a second that she could hate her so much that she'd go through this much trouble just to keep her daughter away from her.

This thought made Naomi feel physically ill. It made her feel so disheartened and in such pain. Because it wasn't _just _about the amount of damage this single action by Jenna Fitch had cause her family, but personally, on a deeper level this type of rejection really pained her. It made her feel like she was so unlovable that someone would rather risk their own freedom, their own family, the well-being of their loved ones in order to make sure she was never part of their world. It was incredibly painful.

"No Naomi…I don't hate you. You may not believe me. I have never hated you. You're a wonderful person…"

"Yea, well what a brilliant way to show me how wonderful I am… Falsifying documents? Lying to us? Making us think that you were okay with our family? what were you even thinking?"

"I wasn't thinking…"

"No you fucking weren't…"

"I panicked, okay?"

"Panicked?"

"I didn't know what to do…because I never thought Emily was gonna request something like this from me. I didn't even know that having you parent Liam was even a possibility at that time...to me it was absurd..."

"Absurd?"

"That there'd be a possibility of you adopting my grandson...I mean, you are another woman? I could've never figured _that_ would even be legal..."

Naomi shook her head in disbelief. She could not comprehend for the life of her that someone during this and age would have such a retrograde mind. That someone who lived in a free country where there were laws protecting all their citizens there still existed someone who could see her adoption of Liam as something not just wrong, but completely absurd.

"But then when Emily came to me asking me to help her, I realized that it was a possibility...and I panicked..."

"So you manipulated it all so it wouldn't happen..."

"At first I delayed it...I refused to help Emily with it because I thought that by denying her my help she'd give up on the idea of it eventually and just move on. But then a few years later she came back to me, this time telling me that you were getting married and that she'd saved up some money and all she needed was a trustworthy lawyer to go along with it. She needed the paperwork her dad and I kept safe for her at our office safe...but I knew I couldn't give it to her, because if she saw it she'd know...

"Know what?"

"That registering you as his second-parent wasn't possible, because Liam already had two registered parents."

"What?"

_"You called me in Mrs. Fitch?"_

_"Frederick, my dear…do come in…have a seat…"_

_Freddy McClair was quite an ambitious lad. All throughout college and University he had done nothing but dream big dreams about being a successful businessman (like his father) and had never had a doubt in his mind that he'd do just about anything to achieve it. _

_And when the opportunity to become manager of one of the fastest-growing gyms companies in the UK came about he jumped at the chance and did not think twice about anything. This chance was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity because it wasn't usual for a 23-year-old lad, fresh out of Uni to be given such responsibility. _

_But to Robert Fitch, the opportunity he was given to this young man was justified by the fact that the entire reason for him even opening a gym (and working hard to achieve what he had) had been the well-being of his family. _

_Robert had always been all about family and after his daughter's Emily's boyfriend had graduated Uni with a business degree, to him the most logical step to do was to give this young man a chance to grow within the business. _

_Up to then, though Emily hadn't been too serious with Freddy, their relationship was rather formal and old-fashioned in a sense. And in a way this was to the liking of Rob Fitch who was a rather old-fashioned kind of dad. (The type to threatened his daughter's companions before they went out on a date with them, just in case they tried any 'funny-business' with one of his precious daughters who he loved like fierce.)_

_This behavior by the part of Freddy and Emily led Rob to believe that her daughter had actually found a good and decent young man that would take care of his Emily the way she should be taken care of. And little by little, while Emily felt like she was drowning in this relationship...the relationship between Freddy and her family was flourishing to the point that he had become the sixth person at their six-seater table dinner every Sunday at the Fitches house. _

_And for a few months, Emily had allowed it because it was all way too easy for her. For some reason Freddy actually 'respect her', he never pushed anything beyond some very light affectionate kissing and she had gotten her mum and Katie off her back about her 'crazy idea' that she might be attracted to girls. So for her all worked out just fine as it did for Freddy...for him it was even more than just fine. _

_For Freddy, the trust of Rob Fitch only meant a boost in his business career as the man had literally jumped for joy at knowing that his (future) son-in-law was a business whiz (or so he claimed to be). Somehow through months of being on his 'best behaviour' with his daughter Emily, Freddy had paid his way to Rob's trusting heart. Because Rob believe in people (much like Emily believe in people). He trusted Freddy and he saw him as the son he'd never have. (At the time James wasn't exactly behaving the way Rob expect) so one day, out of the blue he decided it'd be the best to hire Freddy to run the newest branch. And that's when things started to get interesting, at least for Freddy they did. _

_To Freddy, __the fact that Rob was trusting him with managing the second-biggest branch of Fitch Fitness was a little bit of a dream as he saw himself to (eventually become) part (if not full) owner of the entire thing. And he was fully convinced of that, not because he was anything special (no real business skills or abilities, just an average ambitious youngest) but he had someone who was unconditionally on his side for some reason. And though he didn't know exactly why it was she was on his side, he enjoyed it…he took advantage of it as much as he could._

_"I am sure by now you've already had a chance to speak to your father…"_

_"Yes Mrs. Fitch, I have…"_

_"So I am assuming that if you are here to see it's because you have agreed to what Leo and I discussed…you're willing to take on the full-responsibility…"_

_"I am"_

_"Perfect, I've got the name of the law firm that will be taking care of all of this then…you don't have to do anything except for showing up and they'll take care of everything else…"_

_"And the test?"_

_"The test will be done that same day so that we can prepare all of the paperwork whilst we get the results…there isn't any doubt in your mind that you are the father, right?"_

_"Of course not..."_

_"Well then within a few days, you'll be one of us Frederick…and I expect you to live up to my expectations of you…."_

_"Of course Mrs. Fitch, you'll see that I won't let you down."_

_"If you are anything like your father, I know that I can trust you…now if only we could get Emily to trust you…she's still insisting on having a relationship with that 'hippy-woman'…"_

_"It's alright Mrs. Fitch, I know Em…she's a good girl. She'll come around…"_

_"I do hope so…Reverend Wilson says this is only a phase…that with prayer and our support she'll come to her senses, but I don't know…sometimes I am just afraid" Jenna's eyes started to water at the thought of her daughter throwing her life and her 'salvation' away thanks to this godless-hippie that had seduced her into a life that will lead her to her own damnation. _

_"Don't be afraid Mrs. Fitch…what you're doing is the best that you can do…for little William, for Emily…for all of us."_

_"Thank you Frederick, you are truly heaven-sent."_

_"_At the time I was convinced I was doing the best for them..."

"That still doesn't give you the right to meddle in our lives Jenna…do you know what your actions have caused? Do you know the extent of pain you've put us all through because of your lies, because of your manipulations?"

"I was trying to be a good mother, a good Christian…"

"How is lying, committing fraud and manipulating everyone around you to whatever the hell you wanted being a good Christian mother, Jenna? You are just a revolting human-being…"

_"You did what?" _

_"I falsified them, okay? I lied to you about it because at the time it wasn't convenient for you to know…"_

_"Not convenient? Why the hell didn't you tell me, mum? This entire time both Naomi and I have been lead to believe that Liam is our child? That he belongs to both of us…that you'd taken care of this and now you're telling me that Fred has been on his birth certificate since he was born?"_

_"Not since he was born…a bit after that…"_

_"Does that make a fucking difference? How did you even get Freddy to do something like that?"_

"He was the father of that child…he was Emily's ex-boyfriend of two years…it was the most logical choice…the best possible choice for my daughter…and if she hadn't met you…"

"So what, now this _my_ fault? Now this entire thing falls on me for loving your daughter?"

"If you'd have really loved her, you would've allowed her to be with the baby's father…like she was supposed to…like I asked you to…"

_"She tried bribing you?"_

_"She did…she actually tried bribing me into moving back to London. Apparently she had some contacts there who could get me a 'proper' job in the political arena. She says this will be the best for all of us…can you imagine the audacity of this woman?"_

_"She's a fucking monster, she is…" _

_Cook got up off the table where he'd been sharing a drink with his best mate as they discussed the actions of their future mother-in-law Jenna Fitch. He walked over to bar and picked up another two pints and sat back down to continue their conversation. _

_"Sometimes when I see Katie…the way she is, I pity you mate…the way Katie is, that attitude is like watching her mother…"_

_"No, it isn't…don't say that. Katie isn't like that. I know my girl. I trust her. I know she's got attitude and that's what I like about her most, but I also know that she'd never allow her mum or anyone else to dictate on her life…unlike Emily…"_

_"You think Emily would ever fall into this whole manipulation game with her mum? That she'd allow her to fuck around with her life like it's some sort of video game?"_

_"I hope not mate…for your own sake and for the sake of that kiddo, I sure bloody hope not…"_

_"_I thought what I was doing was the best for my daughter and her child. I thought that her being with Frederick was the best for her..."

"That wasn't your choice to make! you should be in jail Jenna Fitch!"

_"Tell me how I am gonna tell this to Naomi? Tell me, mum, how I am gonna explain to her that for the past four years she's thought that Liam was her son and suddenly he isn't? How could I be so fucking stupid? So trustworthy? You deserve to go to jail for this!"_

_"You would put your own mother in jail? You'd actually do this me?"_

_"You did this to yourself! You fucking did this is on your own! How am I supposed to fix this now?"_

_Emily suddenly started to cry because she did not know what to do. The past few months with the confusion around this Sophia person, her relationship with Naomi had really floundered. The fact that Katie had meddled in all of that and had practically caused them to separate because of her suspicions with Naomi and Sophia had caused Emily and Naomi some serious turmoil. _

_From then Naomi wasn't exactly happy to be related to the Fitch family. How could she now explain this entire thing to her without rupturing their relationship even further? How could she even explain this at all? That Emily was so trustworthy and such an idiot that she'd allowed her mum to take care of everything for her and that now this meant Liam wasn't even her son? Naomi would leave her for sure. She had to keep it quiet until something could be done. _

_"You are fucking fixing this!" She told her mum really furiously. "I don't know how the fuck you're gonna do it, but you are fixing it! No matter what it takes!"_

"So I went to him and tried to get him to allow you to adopt Liam...but he refused...he wouldn't allow it" Jenna said pain in her voice.

"Of course he wouldn't allow it...that giant rat only cares about himself...I can't believe you ever trusted him at all!"

"I know...I know that now. But then I was blinded by what I believed was correct, Naomi. I thought that if the Lord allowed my daughter to get pregnant with Frederick's child it was because he was the person who she was supposed to be with. Because why else would that happen?"

Naomi didn't have words to answer, she didn't have the might to utter any words because all she was hearing was so completely ridiculous that she for sure had to be in some of sort of candid camera show. What Jenna was saying had to be some sort of prank, some sort of joke...this couldn't be her reality. This couldn't be happening.

"I thought he was a good man, Naomi..."

Jenna looked down at the floor in shame of what she was revealing.

_"_But he wasn't...he wasn't having it. No matter what I did, no matter what I offered him he now had been registered as Liam's dad for years and him and that wife of his refused to give up their rights.."

"Why?"

"Because I...I may have convinced him that once Rob would retire from Fitch Fitness he'd leave him in charge and that later on, since James was going into the military and neither Emily nor Katie were interested in the business Liam would naturally inherit it...so him being his father..."

"So Rob was right..." Naomi was at awe at hearing all that Jenna was telling her about those two rat-bastards. Naomi had never really trusted Freddy and Effy, but for some reason she had allowed them into their lives because she thought they were there for Liam because they truly did loved him, but now she knew their true intentions and she had the sudden urge to run them both over with a bulldozer. "Those fucking bastards"

"Emily doesn't know this but I begged Freddy to allow you to adopt Liam, Naomi...I was convinced that I was gonna be able to pay him off so that he'd leave Fitch Fitness and let you adopt my grandson, but he wouldn't allow it. And I tried, Naomi...I swear to you that I did. That's why I retired early and why I sold Let's get Fitched...I sold it for the money to give to those two...but for some reason by then that arsehole didn't want my money anymore. He was furious that Robert had chosen Cook to oversee the entire thing...so he refused to allow it. He hated Cook for some reason. He didn't wanna give up what he thought was 'rightfully his'."

Naomi still couldn't comprehend how all of this stuff could happen without her even knowing about it. How all these things could be machining around her life and the life of her family as she sat there completely oblivious...convinced that all was fine and great...whilst she stood there with an anvil hanging from a thin rope on top of her head. Waiting for a small move and then...it would just collapse."

"I tried to fix it Naomi...I really did. I thought not telling Emily about it would buy me time, but it didn't."

"I am hearing it but I still can't fucking believe it."

Naomi finally started walking out the door of the room in which she had been talking to her soon to be her ex-mother-in-law. She'd had just about enough. For a moment she had to gasp for air because the realization of this new revelation was all too much for her. How could all this be happening?

"You must believe it Naomi…you must believe that I am sorry and that my intention now is that you know this…so that you can see that Emily wasn't at fault."

Naomi had to sit back down as she felt her legs wobble and her entire body almost crumple to the floor. This was all too much, way too much for her to handle.

"Now all I want is to be able to take all of what I did back…for you to forgive me…and for you to find a way to fix it."

"Fix it?" Naomi said with tears running down her eyes as she understood that this revelation had come to her far too late for her to be able to fix anything.

_"You know what Naomi? I am tired…so sick and tired of this entire thing. I just want this to end already? Because every time I am with you…every time we are nearby all I feel is pain all over everywhere."_

_Naomi stood up off the bed that she'd just shared with Emily, the same one they'd been sleeping in that prior night so close-together that it almost felt like no one would ever be able to pull them apart and she walked over to her small bag, opened the front pocket of it and pulled out a pile of papers. _

_"You're carrying those around with you?" Emily said a bit disheartened when she noticed what they were. _

_"I bring them everywhere in case I finally have the strength to do this…" She said pulling a pen out of a drawer in a desk that was in the room and signing them. _

_"I think it's time I stop being so scared of losing you…when it's evident that I've already lost you…"_

_"Naomi, I…" Emily started to say as Naomi pulled up in front of her and placed a few fingers on her lips to quiet her. _

_"Shh…please, don't say anything else. You don't have to. There's nothing more to discuss. Please let me know what, if any, days I'll be allowed to see Liam via email or through Katie. Whatever is more convenient for you. I'll leave after breakfast" She said handing Emily the pile of papers with her signature all over them. _

_And with those words she walked downstairs where Jenna was feeding Hanna and James was helping Katie in the kitchen and she did not say anything else. She was gonna wait until after they ate to say goodbye to all of them with an excuse about a job interview or something else. She didn't wanna cause a ruckus; she didn't wanna cause anyone any more pain. She'd had enough. She couldn't handle any more of this. Now all she wanted to do was run far away from there…from them who up to now had been (for good or for bad) the only people she'd ever know (along with her mum) to be her family. And so she walked right outside into the porch and pulled out a fag and started to smoke. _

_This was it. It was the end. Emily and her were through and to her this meant her life was completely over and there wasn't a single thing in the entire world that was gonna be able to fix it. Or was there?_


	17. Chapter 17

**Hi all! Happy Monday! Hope everyone had a nice weekend. Here is another chunk of this story. I actually heard some people gasp at the fact that I made Effy a bit 'evil' in this story because everyone really loves her and in most stories she's one of the good guys, but I really do believe that circumstance can change a person and so there's gotta be reasons for her behavior. **

**Maybe the influence of an ambitious Freddy or just anything else. Let's not forget that our cannon -Effy is a bit ambitious herself, if we quote Skins Fire (though I hate to do that because I hate to give Skins Fire the status of cannon since in my mind gen 2 finished in Freddy's shed)...but if we do...we see an Effy that was willing to commit fraud for her lover (in this case the ambitious Jake) so I don't see a big stretch to the idea that in my story Effy might be willing to do something similar to help out her beloved Freddy (who by the looks of Jake, she has never been able to get over). **

**We also must consider that she _is_ a Stonem and if she's anything like her brother Tony, she'd definitely be willing to go this far to get her own way. So there...I am sorry Effy is evil in this fic, I promise next one I'll turn her back into her mindreading-black clothes wearing-chain smoking self that she has become in our minds and all will be fine with the Universe again. **

**With that note, I bid you good morning (afternoon or evening, depending on where you are) and remind you that I don't have a beta and I don't own Skins. Chapter 17...here you are...**

**p.s. Don't forget to review :) **

* * *

_17_

_"Baby please don't do this….please call me back. Let me explain." _

_It was gloom Bristol morning the day that it all happened. Naomi had been sitting inside her house crying he eyes out for what seemed like hours on end without a single answer from Emily through phone, text or any other means. She' s been trying, she really had tried to contact everyone and anyone who would be able to help her out but even Cook, her best mate in the whole wide world wasn't available that day. And it wasn't like he didn't want to, he really did want to. She knew he did. _

_But after what she'd done…after what had happened almost 12 hours before there was no way any of them would forgive her. There was no way any of them would even listen to her reasons or her excuses or whatever it was that was necessary so that this can all be fixed. _

_"Baby, I've sent you about 100 texts. At least tell me you're okay. At least tell me to fuck off or to die…I am dying, please Emily."_

_And the worse thing about it all was that they were all right. She didn't deserve their forgiveness, she didn't deserve to be texted back or called or anything. She deserved that silence and that loneliness and that sorrow that was killing her from the inside out. She deserved it all because the way she had acted in the last few months was so completely unforgivable that she actually didn't even deserve to be sitting in that sofa, in that house that she used to share with her wife and their child; her home. T_

_he home that she had destroyed piece by piece, the home she had broken apart by her fear and her recklessness and that venomous feeling of abandonment and rejection that that boiled up inside of her ever since she had found out about Emily's lie. _

_All of that had grown inside of her, being fed by anger and by unfortunate events and choices she'd made during those months. All of that which had been released out like a caged animal that had been taunted and starved for days and months and somewhere close to a year and was now being released out. Now this was out in the open and it was raw and painful and this made Naomi feel like she needed to drown that pain in something. So what she did next, as justified as it seemed (in her warped head) for a moment, it was for them the last straw. It was that feather that broke the camel's back. _

_"Emily" _

_She'd been sitting in that couch so caught up in her misery that she did not notice the rumbling of keys and hear the door open or see Emily walking into their house until the redhead was standing right in front of her. _

_"Did you not get the message then?" Emily said with deep anger in her eyes. "Did Cook not get you the message…"_

_"He did baby, he did" said Naomi as she stood up off the couch and tried moving toward Emily and took the chance of trying to grab at her hands as Emily pulled away coldly and started walking the other way. _

_"I just couldn't…" Naomi started to cry before she could finish that sentence. "I can't go anywhere…not before I can explain what you saw…"_

_"There's nothing TO explain Naomi…I don't need an explanation of anything. All I need is for you to follow the request that I sent through Cook and for once in your life fucking think of someone else besides yourself." Emily answered without wavering. She walked over toward the bedroom to check the state of the house, took some letters that were on top of the dinning room table and then started to walk out. _

_"I am giving you until the end of the night to pick up your SHIT and get the FUCK OUT OF MY HOUSE SO THAT MY CHILD AND I CAN GO BACK TO LIVING IN IT...YOU UNDERSTAND ME, NAOMI?"_

"Naomi"

A soft voice, not louder than a whisper woke her up from the memories that ruminated inside her head for the few minutes she'd been standing outside of the pediatric wing of the hospital.

She looked up at it, well knowing who it was and took a deep breath to calm her anger because if there was a single person she did not want to talk to in her life ever again was her…Jenna Fucking Fitch.

"I am sorry to bother you, but James and Katie are gonna take Robert and I home and Emily needed to know if you were gonna stay back or go along with us."

Naomi did not answer. She properly got up off the bench she'd been sitting in and started to walk inside toward her son's room to figure out what Emily wanted to do for the night.

"Naomi can you please let me apologize…"

"Jenna, please…I am trying my best to keep my composure in this situation because the least I wanna do is cause any more trouble for us as we had had enough of that in the last 24 hours so if you would please stop haunting me about it…"

"Just give me another chance to apologize, Naomi…I really need to try to mend things…I need to make things right…"

"But you can't make things right Jenna…you can't" Naomi's words flew out of her mouth so loudly that the nurses and staff sitting around a desk nearby had all looked up to see what the ruckus was about."

"There is nothing that you can ever do that would make any of this better, okay? You fucked it up and there's no way to fix it…"

"There has to be a way…I can't just allow my past actions ruin my daughter's life…please believe me when I tell you that this is the least that I have ever wanted to do…you must believe me…"

"I can't believe you Jenna…I can't. And you know why I can't? Because even after seeing all that your manipulation has done to Emily, Liam and I you still haven't stopped yourself from trying to do the same exact thing to the rest of them…"

"What?"

"Cook and Katie and Hanna…the adoption papers, you going to the prison to try to manipulate Cook into giving up Hanna's custody? Did you think I didn't know about that Jenna? Cook is my best mate…"

"I was only trying to…"

"Help? Trying to fix things? Trying to be a _good Christian mother_, again, eh?"

"No…I just want the best for them…"

"The best? You know what the best for them and for all of us would be? For you to _disappear_ from out of our lives…for you not to exist so that way my…Emily and Liam can go back to being mine…" Naomi had to wipe the tears that poured out of her eyes as she was talking to the elder woman.

""You've ruined my life…you've ripped apart my family and you are now trying to do the same with Cook and Katie…for what? So that in 10 years when Hanna is having a nervous breakdown and is laying in a hospital bed with a concussion or slung wrists or half-a-bottle of pills down her throat you can run over to Cook and Katie and tell him you're sorry?"

"Jesus, please don't ever say that…"

"Why not? Isn't that what you did to us? Isn't that what almost happened to my son?...be thankful to your God or whatever the hell is out there that he ran and fell down and broke his head because if he hadn't we could've been in a very different…a worse situation with him. Anything could've happened to him…he could've attempted something and…"

Naomi's throat closed up and she could hardly utter a word at the thought of her Liam going through the things she'd gone through when she had found out about her dad. The thought was so painful she could hardly breathe just thinking about it.

"I can't forgive you Jenna…I can never forgive you, because despite the fact that you've been a wretched cow your entire life and treated me like a second-class citizen for the last 13 years just because I don't have a penis, I respected you. I tried to grow fond of you…I fucking treated you like family. And I did it because of them. I did it because I am absolutely crazy about them both…I always have been…I always will be. But that doesn't even matter anymore, does it? It's all over now, Jenna…and it's all thanks to you. So I'd appreciate it that for the rest of the time that I am obliged to be nearby you, you do not utter a single word to me…I will be content for the rest of my life if I never have to hear your voice or see your face ever again."

_"Emsy" _

_Jenna looked outside the kitchen where she'd been fixing her granddaughter Hanna her breakfast when she saw Emily fly past by her without acknowledging her presence. _

_"Em, what's going on…are you crying?" _

_"Mum please, leave me alone for a bit…I am in no mood." _

_Jenna stopped her for a minute and tried looking into her daughter's tear-filled brown eyes but instead she found Emily wouldn't allow her to look and so she took her hand pulled Emily's chin up to look at her with her slender fingers. _

_"You had another fight with her?" She asked worried, as she knew that whatever it was that her daughter was now fighting out with her wife it was all due to things she'd once done…things she could still not forgive herself for, no matter how much she tried. _

_"She signed it" Emily answered before starting to cry loudly as she pulled herself into her mum's embrace. _

_Jenna's heart sank because she knew very well what her daughter meant. Naomi had finally signed the divorce papers, after months of refusing to do so. According to Katie, Emily had been fighting for Naomi to sign the papers and free Emily from their marriage ever since what had happened that last night…but despite the many threats from Katie, suggestions from Cook and pleads from Emily…Naomi had refused. _

_She'd refused because she didn't want to lose Emily, she was convinced that despite it all Emily still loved her and that if she actually gave her a chance to talk, if she actually listened to her and let her explain (or accepted her explanations) that their marriage could be fixed. _

_All that Naomi wanted was another chance. She knew she didn't deserve one after what she had done, but deep down inside of her she felt as though there was still enough love between them both to be able to rescue their relationship. _

_But as much as Naomi pushed the idea of it all, Emily only wished that the entire thing would end so that she could move on with her life. Worse of all, she had the worst possible adviser nearby her that would only fill her ears with ill-words toward Naomi's behavior throughout the entire thing and all the time during their marriage. _

_And suddenly a marriage that had been so happy and filled with love, Mandy's comments and Naomi's attempts at reconciling had turned it into a mudfest. Suddenly Emily saw all those things that she once enjoyed with Naomi, all those things that they'd lived through as painful memories. _

_And now all those painful memories, all those horrible times with Naomi that she missed so much that she almost wanted to die just thinking that she could never live through again were finished. They were done. It was all over and now that it was, Emily did not feel relief…she felt disturbance, a sense of deprive and emptiness and abandon. She felt completely lost. _

_"There's gotta be a way to fix it, baby" Jenna tried to console her daughter somehow, though it was obvious to them both that there was nothing that could really make that moment better. _

_"There isn't" Emily said pulling away from her mum and wiping her tears from her face and walking toward a drawer in the office area adjacent to the kitchen. _

_"Where are the envelopes?" Emily asked as she pushed and pulled into drawers and cabinets of the few desks that lay in that room. "I need to send these out today…the lawyer is expecting them…"_

_"Why don't you wait on that a day or two? Wait until you're back in Bristol" Jenna said walking over toward the desk and pulling a box of mustard-colored envelops from it to give to Emily. _

_"There's no use on delaying this any longer…" Emily answered as she pulled the paperwork into the envelope and placed it on the desk for a second. She then pulled her phone out of her pocket and looked the correct address for her lawyer's office within her address book. _

_"Let me take care of this then" Jenna said taking the packet from her daughter and pulling it under her arm. "You just go on and finish helping Katie set up the table outside…we're having breakfast in the deck by the garden."_

_"Alright" Emily sighed sadly as she wiped more tears that ran freely down her cheeks with her wrists. "Where's Liam?"_

_"Oh, he's in the gardens…running around somewhere. I think looking for his granddad…you know how those two are about their morning walks. Wish I woke up with that much vigor in the early mornings. It's almost as if someone winded them up all night…all that energy, all that hope."_

_"Yea" Emily said as she walked over toward some French doors at the end of the hallway and opened them into the clear, crisp morning air hit her in the face. _

_"Emily" Jenna said, before she let Emily leave her sight. Emily looked back trying to hold back from crying once again. _

_"Don't lose hope…be more like Liam"_

"Hi there"

Naomi walked into her son's room where he was laying on the bed while Emily held him haphazardly into an embrace, being careful not to touch the bandaged part of his head.

"Mummy, you're back." Liam said with such content that it drew a smile on Naomi's face immediately. Those last few hours…those last few months had been so grim and full of sorrow, that seeing her son smiling so widely was a breath of fresh air…something that she wasn't expecting after the baneful moment she'd just had with Jenna just minutes before.

"Of course I am back…you think I was gonna leave my two loves alone the entire night?" Naomi said walking over toward Emily who was standing right next to their son's bed and placing her hands on her hips and then placing a small kiss on her shoulder before looking up at Liam and smiling.

"They really did a botch job with your hair, mate" she said as she moved a bit away from Emily, still letting her arm linger and caress the redhead's back just a little.

Liam and Emily looked at one another and then at Naomi and smiled as they went on to talk about how horrible it was for them to have shaved all of Liam's long hair off.

And though Emily tried to listen and laugh at what her son and her ex were saying, she had to concentrate on trying to breathe as best as she could. Because ever since she'd heard Naomi come in and she'd looked at her with those amazingly blue eyes and had smiled at her that way she'd been frozen in time. And she hadn't been able to take a proper breath…she hadn't been able to concentrate on anything as she felt Naomi's fingers slightly stroking the small of her back underneath her shirt.

"So we decided to stay in Glasgow…right mama?" Liam's voice directed at her interrupted Emily's train of thought.

"Yea" Emily said looking at Naomi who was smiling back at her so beautifully that she was almost compelled to move forward just to steps and kiss her. "We are gonna be staying for a bit here too"

"That's great news…" Naomi said cheerfully as she pulled toward her son and kissed him on the part of his hair that wasn't bandaged. "Aunt Katie says she's gonna try to find another place for them to hold granddad and grandma's party…she postponed it for a couple of weeks…so we're all gonna be together."

Both Liam and Naomi's faces was so full of joy as he said that Emily couldn't help but start to smile at seeing them both this way. For a moment it almost felt like they were a family again. This thought filled Emily's heart full of hope.

"Uncle James is going to stay with his girlfriend Bridget in Edinburgh so I am gonna have the room all to myself until he comes back…you two are gonna have to stay roommates, I am not sharing…"

"Roommates?"

"Yea...at least until Aunt Katie and Hanna leave, you will...you don't mind, right?"

_"Baby please come back to bed…I miss you…" _

_"No" _

_All throughout Emily's pregnancy, Naomi had been nothing but accommodating to her girlfriend about each and every single request she'd had during those last five months. But during that entire weekend, the weekend where Cook and Katie had the bright idea of heading out to the beach to cool themselves off during those hot summer nights…Naomi had had enough. _

_Emily had been nothing but a spoiled brat the entire time she was out there, complaining about everything, fussing over the food, the heat and how annoying it was to be pregnant. All of them were frankly sick of her and both Cook and Katie blamed Naomi for the way Emily was behaving. _

_And they weren't really wrong about the entire thing. After all, Naomi's obsession with making Emily comfortable all throughout the pregnancy had created a monster…a monster who she rather not be rooming with at the moment or maybe ever. For what it was worth, Naomi would rather be crashing iwith Cook and Katie (and she would be if Katie hadn't stopped her immediately by mentioning that they'd be shagging all night and she'd have to stay with Emily) or in the couches outside the reception area of the hotel than freezing her behind in the room that Emily had 'accommodated' for herself that night. _

_"Please baby…I'll turn off one of the fans."_

_"Just one of them Emsy? I am cold as it is out here and there are three fans plus the air conditioner all the way up in there…I can't sleep there. I'll freeze to death."_

_"It's not my fault…it's the hormones. The make me feel like my skin is burning up…"_

_"I understand that babe…I know the hot flashes are due to the hormones" Naomi said walking back into the room from balcony where she'd set up camp (with a blanket and a pillow on a lounge chair) to spend the night until they all went back home and she can go back to her own room and have some proper rest._

_"Then why are you being a daft cow about it? Just come here and hold me…"_

_"Yea, because you calling me a daft cow is making me want to hold you soooo much right now…You've been horrible to me the entire trip and now you want me to just forget about it all and just hold you?"_

_"Yea" Emily bit her lip and looked at Naomi will that face that always made Naomi's heart melt into a ton of useless goo. _

_Naomi sighed because she knew that once Emily plaid that card, Naomi was bound to lose. Emily had learned exactly how do that since the first night they'd spent together. Since then, Emily had used that same look…those same big brown beautifully soulful eyes to manipulate her into staying with her. Naomi could never say no to those. _

_"I am so glad you've refused to us living together twice already…you're an awful roommate." Naomi said as she walked over toward where she'd been sitting, took the blanket and placed it around her shoulders, took the pillow in her hands and marched back to the bed where Emily laid completely starkers in the middle of three large fans that blew cold wind at her. _

_"I am sorry it's so cold in here" She finally said standing up off the bed and turning two of the three fans off and then climbing back into bed with Naomi. _

_"It's still just as cold…" Naomi said as she moved away from Emily still trying to find a way to stay warm. Emily moved in closer to her and pulled her in by the neck of her shirt and kissed her very passionately. _

_"Guess we're gonna have to find ways to warm you up a little then…any idea on what we can try?" _


	18. Chapter 18

**Hi y'all...it's been quite a week for me so I haven't been able to write too much, but I have my laptop with me so I thought I might update just a bit. Hope you like it, it's not as long...I am gonna see about updating some more this weekend if I can. Thanks for your reviews and your follows. **

**I love to hear back from you but also like to see everyone who follows along, so even if you don't review...I am still sending you hugs and kisses from here in the States and I hope you remain liking it. **

**As ush, I most definitely don't have a beta (you can tell, can't you) and I don't own Skins so these characters are (for the most part) borrowed. Number 18, up ahead...**

* * *

_18_

Katie was walking rapidly through the hallway in the pediatric wing of the hospital where her nephew was a few hours from being released, when she almost bumped into someone. Her sister Emily.

"Jesus…"

"For fucks sake, Emsy…you almost spilled that entire thing all over me. You know how much this dress costs?"

Emily laughed joyously as seeing her sister's face and then pulled some items she had on the tray and gave them to Katie to hold.

"Sorry…I am in a hurry…Holly is letting me sneak these past security since they don't allow outside food in this wing…"

"Who the heck is Holly?" Katie said taking the gray tray with two cups now in her hands and taking a sip out of one.

"She's the nurse on duty…and…don't…that's not for you." She said swatting her sister's hand.

"Ack…Jesus, what's _in_ this?"

"Mix of green and chai tea with soy milk…they didn't have it in the canteen here in the hospital so I had to go out and get it from Starbucks…it's for Naomi."

Katie grinned at seeing her sister's wide smile and huge hopeful eyes when she said her wife's name.

"Cook takes it black without sugar…" She whispered a bit condescendingly.

"What?" Emily asked as she managed trying to keep her balance whilst practically racing down the hallway to her son's room.

"His tea…in the morning. Only drinks black tea, really dark…I am talking about 3 or 4 teabags, no sugar…It's kinda disgusting" She says smiling.

"You miss him?" Emily smiled at the way her sister was talking about her husband. After that talk with her mum about Hanna's custody paperwork she had grown worried that Katie was actually listening to their mum and was gonna do something that could ruin their lives. She had planned on talking to Katie about that once they got some time alone, but everything that had happened over that weekend wasn't giving them much of chance to talk.

She opened the door rapidly to find Naomi scrunched up on the small chair next to their son's bed and she bit her lip at the sight. It had been a while...a really long while since she'd look at her snuggled up like a huge burrito with only her head sticking out of the white hospital blankets and she felt her heart was about to melt. _She's so beautiful. _

The night before they had stayed up joking around with Liam, until Holly had come in to give him some medicine for the headache and their boy had fallen fast asleep. For a while Naomi and her had stayed talking to each other, it was about random things...nothing to do with them, or the family or even Liam. It was so nice, so refreshing to be able to talk to her that way that they had both had gotten completely caught up in it. Finally at 3 AM, Holly had come in to take Liam's blood pressure and had told them they should probably get some rest in the parent's lounge if they wanted.

Naomi and Emily both refused, they didn't wanna leave their son's side and in a small way...neither of them wanted to leave each other's side either. Even though it was ridiculous, it was as if they both silently agreed to stay in that room with their son because being there felt so safe and warm and cozy...it felt like coming home.

After a few minutes of chatting some more they both started to really tired and Naomi suggested they sleep a bit and turned down the lights. When all the lights were out, Emily had slept right next to Liam on the bed and Naomi had sat on the chair next to them and rested her upper body on the mattress, so close to Emily's hands that the redhead could've caressed her hair the entire night. if she really wanted to.

In fact, Emily had spent most of the night thinking about doing it, wishing she had the guts to do it, battling in her head whether it was a good or bad idea. All she had done was watch her sleeping so close by and suddenly she couldn't remember why it was they were fighting…all she wanted to do for few hours she'd managed to lay there next to her son was think and wonder and wish that she was a little more brave. She knew Naomi wanted her, she'd told her a million times. Even right before they signed the divorce she'd told her. And for a moment, before drifting into sleep Emily wished she was that redheaded girl who had dared bet that she could eat all that horrible pub food just to get a kiss. For a moment she wished she was that brave...she wished she could let go of it all and be brave and want Naomi back.

"You miss her?" Katie replied to her sister's question, well-knowing what the answer might be.

Emily stopped for a second and looked down at the floor as her sister pulled her chin back up with her free hand and looked into her eyes.

"Hey…." She said trying to cheer her up. "We all miss her…"

_"I am leaving" _

_"What…why?" _

_Katie couldn't stand herself when she found out what her meddling and gossiping had done to her sister and Naomi's relationship. And she felt so awful, she could hardly stand herself. _

_"Because I can't take it any longer…she's been fighting with me nonstop about this whole thing for three weeks Katiekins…I don't know who the heck puts these ideas into her head. I am not or will never, ever be involved with this Sophia person…why the heck won't she believe me?"_

_Naomi was getting ready to leave; she was tired of her girlfriend's jealousy fits and thought it proper for them to take some time off from each other because the constant questioning and fighting with Emily was starting to drive her a little mad. _

_"Naomi…please…don't leave, okay? This isn't her fault. I was the one who did this…"_

_"You? Katie…what the fuck?"_

_"I saw you out with Sophia few times…I had been doing some promotion stuff with clients and you were having lunch or a drink with her and she seemed really cozy with you, I don't know…I started to…"_

_"To what?"_

_"Get jealous…"_

_"What…jealous? You?"_

_"Right, but like not for me…jealous for my sister, you know…like the same thing you'd feel if you saw Cook with another woman being all flirty and shit…"_

_"I wasn't flirting and we weren't out, Katie…she's our publicist and we are doing that TV campaign and were extra busy so our meetings always run too long… I never wanted to stay extra hours at the office because I already spent enough hours without Liam and Emily…they were work meetings Katie…I'd ask her to meet during lunch so that I can make it home in time for dinner with my family."_

_"Well, how was I supposed to know that? I see you having lunch with another very attractive woman, more than once, you look very familiar together…and maybe YOU weren't flirting but she definitely was…that woman wants to get into your pants Naomi…I wasn't gonna allow a mousey-looking skank to take you away from us…"_

_"Us?"_

_"Yea, well…I mean, Emily…but she's MY sister and you're her girlfriend and my nephew's mum and my boyfriend's best mate…you're one of us Naomi. Face it, you're a Fitch. You belong to us."_

_"You know, sometimes I ask myself what made me ever think that marrying into this crazy family was a good idea. I am glad I haven't yet. You are all insane…ALL of you…but I mean like clinically insane, not like the regular kind…the kind with straight jackets…"_

Emily didn't answer her sister's question, mostly because when she was gonna start to answer she saw her ex-wife's beautiful blue eyes flutter open and she couldn't hold back a smile.

"Hi" Naomi said to Emily who stood in front of her with a tray of food and a dumb smile on her face.

"Thought you'd be hungry…we didn't get much to eat all of yesterday."

She set the tray table with wheels that was on one side and placed the food on top of it and brought it over to Naomi. Naomi placed her hand on top of Emily's as they stood there and stared at each other for a second, quietly.

"And also…I'm here…in case no one noticed…" Katie came in holding a tray with two cups and smiling at both her sister and Naomi who were now blushing.

"Right, and Katie's here."

"She bought you some disgusting-arse tea that she couldn't find at the canteen..."

Naomi smiled at Emily's thoughtful gesture as she knew how much Naomi hated not having her 'special' tea in the morning.

"Aunt Katie!" Liam woke up at the sound of voices in his room as Katie handed the two cups over to Emily and Naomi and ran over to give him a kiss.

"Jesuschrist, what'd they do to your hair?"

"They had to shave it all off…don't you like it?"

"No...they did a horrible job" Katie said passing her hands through the part that wasn't bandaged.

"See, I told you it looked bad..." Liam said looking at his mums.

"Katie! It doesn't look _that_ bad...It'll grow back." Emily complained.

"Yea, I suppose...plus I guess it's not your worse haircut ever, is it?…" She said looking at Naomi who was laughing.

"Yea, I agree" Emily said placing her hand on Naomi's shoulder lightly. "The one your mum gave you was a whole lot worse…"

"Hey…I did the best I could with what I had. Who told you to take him to the salon and allow him to pretend to cut hair?…soon as he got home he went crazy with the scissors…"

"Oh so now this was my fault, is it?"

_"Stand still or this is gonna come out worse than I thought mate…"_

_"It's itchy, mummy…"_

_"Oh my fucking god…"_

_Emily walked into the bathroom where six-year-old Liam was sitting, with a towel around his neck and sitting next to Naomi who was (for some unknown reason) giving him a haircut._

_ "Mama, that's a bad word…"_

_"What in the fucking hell have you done to my child?"_

_"That's two bad words…" Liam corrected. _

_"I was just trying to make it better…I came in and he had scissors in his hands, had chopped half of his hair off already…I was just trying to even it out, thought maybe you wouldn't notice…"_

_"Wouldn't notice? Jesus, he's got…" Emily started to trace around Liam's hair with her fingers. "He's got bald spots…Naomi!"_

"We tried to salvage it by taking you to your Uncle Cook's barber to see if he could fix it but nothing much could be done." Emily said laughing. "That only just made it worse"

"Oh your mum's face was priceless, mate" Naomi laughed along with her. "She looked like she was gonna murder me"

"You _should've_ murdered her…that's the second time you both ruin perfectly good wedding photos with your shenanigans…"Katie said pointing at both Naomi and Liam who looked at her sheepishly.

"That's right…" Emily said looking down at Naomi and then back up at Liam. "First it was this haircut, then during Katie's wedding it was the matching arm casts…"

"You should've murdered her…she ruined all my photos…I still cringe every time I see Naomi standing in awkward positions trying to hide the green colored cast from all the pictures."

They all laughed in unison and then Emily looked at Naomi and sighed before moving closer to her.

"Yea, well…she's lucky I love her so much" Emily moved her hand that had been resting on Naomi's right shoulder over to her left and moved closer to the chair where Naomi was sitting. Instinctively, Naomi tilted her head a bit and rested it lightly on her ex-wife's left thigh and looked up at her and smiled.

Both Katie and Liam looked at each other and smiled trying not to draw too much attention to what they were seeing.

"Sorry I ruined your photos Aunt Katie" Liam tried apologizing. "Yours too mama"

"Oh, don't worry...my pictures, that was all Naomi…and their pictures…those weren't _your_ fault either love, it's these two…who couldn't wait a few of weeks for your hair to grow back so that they could have a proper wedding and take proper pictures…they always do things backwards."

"That's cause we couldn't wait..."

_"Mummy!" _

_Liam ran into the bedroom that Naomi and Emily shared in their flat and jumped into the bed where the blonde slowly awoke. _

_"Oh, mate you're gonna give me a heart attack one of these days…" she opened her eyes slowly, still yawning and trying her best to wake up as she was really bad at doing so too quickly as her son held her neck with one arm and pulled his tie off with the other. _

_"What's this? Why are you wearing a tie? Is your gram taking you to her weird church ceremonies again?"_

_"No" Emily said as she walked into the bedroom with breakfast tray and a huge smile on her face."Liam, stop messing up your tie"_

_"Wow" Naomi's eyes bugged out and her mouth fell agape at the sight of her girlfriend all dressed up in most beautiful dress she'd ever seen on her. _

_Emily smiled as she saw the blonde's face of amusement and she walked over toward her and placed the tray on top of her legs and then leaned over and kissed her. _

_"Breakfast in bed and you in that dress…what did I do to deserve all this?"_

_Emily hugged her and then placed her forehead onto the blondes and caressed her cheek with her thumb._

_"Don't you remember what day it is, baby?" _

_"Um….Fri…day…I think…" Naomi answered a bit nervously, trying desperately to think of the date. She usually was really great at remembering dates, birthdays, anniversaries…could she have forgotten a special day? Fuck, that couldn't be. _

_"Right, but the date I mean" Emily looked back at her girlfriend and kissed her nose and then sat back a bit and started to feed her breakfast. _

_Naomi looked very confused, she'd just woken up and had gotten home from her three-day business trip very late the night before. On top of that, Sophia had kept her later claiming to put the finishing touches on the last of the campaign radio and TV campaigns and she had drank a bit too much. _

_After a few bites of her breakfast and still no clue from either Emily or Liam, she looked up and tried to apologize._

_"I am not even sure what date it is…" She took her phone from the night table next to her and looked at the date._

_"August…11th?" She said even more confused than before. She was pretty sure there was nothing special going on that date. Almost completely sure. _

_"Right" Emily said trying to hold back a smile while she spoon feed her girlfriend another bit of her breakfast and gave her another kiss. _

_"Well, we know It's not your birthday…not mine…not Liam's…" Naomi sat and thought really hard while Emily looked at Liam who was playing with this tie and motioned him to stop. _

_"The day we met was in March…so it's not our anniversary..."_

_"Yea…" Emily answered as she placed the spoon down and cleaned some food off her girlfriend's lip with her thumb. _

_"Your parents were married in May…"_

_"Uh huh" Emily smiled even wider at realizing that Naomi could actually remember that. It was hard for her to remember. _

_"So…I don't know then… sorry baby, I've been working too hard and my brain is just fried today…I am sorry that I can't remember."_

_"It's okay" Emily said taking putting the tray to the side of the bed and calling her son over toward her. "I think from today on you'll remember it…right, Liam?"_

_"Yea, Mama" _

_"O..K…so tell me, what date it is then?" Naomi said laughing, still a bit confused. _

_ "It's your wedding day mummy" Liam announced as he sat on top of his mum's legs and they both looked at Naomi's who saw them with confused eyes. _

_"My what?" _

_"Remember that day you were fighting with me because I wouldn't move in with you…"_

_"Second or first time?" Naomi joked._

_"Second…and I said it was too early because this was going too fast and next weekend you may wanna marry me and you said…no…next weekend wouldn't work but we could marry on August 11th in 4 years…"_

_"That's today" Naomi said looking at the calendar on her phone and biting her lip. _

_"I know…" Emily said in a low raspy voice before she whispered something into her son's ear. _

_They looked at one another for a long time still smiling. Naomi had wanted to ask Emily to marry her for such a long time but things always kept on coming up and all of a sudden they were always too busy with regular life to just stop for a minute and be with each other again. But after the confusion with Sophia, Emily knew that both this and the adoption of Liam couldn't wait any longer. So she decided not to wait for Naomi anymore and for the second time in their entire relationship…she was the one who took the leap. She was being brave. _

_"Mummy" Liam said looking up at Naomi whose eyes were starting to water. _

_"Yes, darling?" she said not taking her eyes off of Emily who was still smiling at her. _

_"Would you marry us?"_


	19. Chapter 19

**Hi everyone, I deeply apologize for not having updated at all until now. I have had quite an eventful week and the days just keep piling up, without you knowing. Anyway, I am so very glad everyone liked the last bit. I loved writing it just as well. **

**About this next chapter, well...I guess maybe I should let it to y'all to comment on it and tell me what you think. I am gonna try my best to update more soon. Hope you remain liking it. Cheers to everyone. Happy Friday!**

**As usual, don't own skins, don't have a beta...you know the drill. Comment/Review and let me know what you think. **

* * *

_19_

_"I am a totally fucking bitch"_

_Naomi was sitting at Keith's pub that evening talking to her best mate Cook about everything that had happened that same afternoon. _

_"I can't even, like, go home…I can't even face her, mate" _

_Cook sat back down on the table on the chair right next to the blonde and handed her a refill of her drink and held her hand. _

_"You can't torture yourself about this babes, this can happen to anyone…"_

_"Not to me, Cook…that's not me, I don't do stuff like that…I don't cheat. I'd never cheat…not on anyone and especially never on Emily."_

_Cook held her hand a little tighter, he knew how horrible his best mate Naomi was feeling about what had happened between her and her co-worker Sophia during that business trip they had to take together and though he wasn't exactly fond of the idea either, Naomi was his best mate and he always had to take her side just like she did with him. _

_"Come on Naoms, stop exaggerating…it's not as bad as you're making it seem. It's a drunken snog, not anything either one of us has done before…a kiss isn't cheating babes…"_

_"Of course it's cheating, of course it is…I fucking…I betrayed her Cook…I had something with another woman and now I can't face her, I can't even talk to her…I haven't even been able to sleep next to her. The last 2 days I've been back I've pretended to be too busy reading things for work and I've fallen asleep on the couch." said Naomi a bit teary-eyed while her mate Cook drew circles on her back with his hand for comfort._

_"And she's noticed…I know she has. She's been trying to get my attention, she's been trying to, like, come over to me and hug me and kiss me…and I just…I can't even face her. I can't even look at her. I tell her I am just tired from work and I am overwhelmed and you know what she does? She gives me a shoulder massage and cooks me my favorite dishes and I…I can't even talk to her. I am such a twat…I don't deserve her...I deserve to fucking..."_

_Naomi couldn't even finish that sentence before she started to cry once again. That thing that had happened with Sophia was driving her insane and it wasn't like she hadn't wanted to tell Emily…she really wanted to confess it all but she couldn't. She didn't have the heart to tell her beautiful, wonderful, amazing wife that she had gone on a business trip with that girl that Emily had been jealous of for months now and that suddenly, out of the blue she had kissed her. She didn't even know why she had done it. She wasn't mad with Emily, they weren't having trouble...they were fine...or maybe they weren't...she didn't even know what to think anymore. _

_"Right, well I still think you should try to be less harsh on yourself. You said it yourself, Emily has been acting very weird ever since you went on that trip to America with Liam. Did something happen then? Did you two have a row or something?"_

_"No…not at all. I mean, I did notice she was a bit edgy when we were there but I figure it's just Emily being Emily. You know sometimes she goes a bit mad when we have to go on trips, she hates hotels and packing and the whole ordeal. The parks were a lot of fun but there were so many people, and it was just so hectic. I just thought she was just being a bit moany, like she gets when we go on vacation. But like, we didn't fight or anything…we were fine, we had fun with Liam…loads of fun." _

_"I don't know then mate…but I still think that you can't blame yourself for this. A relationship is between two people, you can't always make yourself the bad guy and Emily the saint, you know…"_

_"I know, but she…Cook there's absolutely nothing to complain about Emily. To me she's perfect…and she does have her flaws, I can't say that she doesn't…we all do. But she's perfect to me, like even her flaws I am good with…I love her so much Cook. I gotta tell her."_

_Naomi stood up off the table after taken a quite large gulp of her drink. She was determined to tell Emily the truth about the kiss with Sophia. _

_"Don't mate…trust me. I speak from experience when I tell you that you don't wanna cause Emily that much pain without reason."_

_"Without reason?"_

_"Listen…Emily is the love of your life, right?"_

_"Yea, of course…you know that"_

_"And this Sophia thing…it was a slip, you had too much to drink and maybe too much stress from work and a bit friction with Emily and you did something stupid...right?"_

_"Yes, you could say that but…"_

_"But nothing…you love Emily and you'll never really proper cheat on her. A kiss isn't cheating. What I did with Effy…that's fucking cheating mate."_

_Naomi looked at her best friend with furious eyes at remembering what he had revealed to her a few weeks prior. She hated what he had done to Katie because despite the fact that Katie was so full-on and sometimes she annoyed the shit out of Naomi, she loved her as her own sister and she felt as though what Cook had done was unpardonable. _

_"Don't fucking even mention that shit to me, sometimes I still wanna fucking kick you in the nads for being such a blood bastard." She said punching him in the arm. _

_"There you go…there you are. That rage, how pissed off you are at the fact that I slept with Effy proves my point…"_

_"Oh yea?"_

_"Of course…if I'd have said I had a snogging session with Effy over some drinks one night…would you have been this pissed off?"_

_"No, but it isn't the same…Sophia to me is just a random, Effy and you…you had history. All that stuff going on in college…Cook, Effy was your first love…you can't compare that with me just wanting to off myself with some girl from work."_

_"It doesn't matter Naomi…Effy being my first love doesn't justify what I did cheating is still cheating and what you did isn't cheating. It was a stupid mistake that you should just forget about. Just erase it from your head, talk to your bosses about switching publicists because you don't like the way Sophia handles the campaigns, or whatever…and then you don't have to deal with her anymore. End of story."_

_"I've already done that…you think I hadn't. Next day I came back from the trip first thing I did was talk to Judy and Monica about switching firms and we did…but Sophia has my number, she was my information and now she's texting me nonstop…every single day I've got 10 or 15 text messages, emails, etc. asking me to meet up so that we can talk…she's fucking stalking me mate."_

_"Oh fuck…so she's a mental basket…"_

_"That or maybe I am the one who is fucking mental…how could I do this shit? I am such a fucking creep. What if this makes me lose her Cook? I can't lose her mate…she's my life…she my….my everything."_

"What are you doing out here on your own?"

Naomi walked right outside the Fitch family home and through the double French doors into the garden where she found Emily looking out into the garden quietly.

"Just…you know…thinking…"

"About what?" Naomi inquired as she approached her and stood right behind her.

"Just all that went on this past weekend. I still can't believe that just three days ago our baby was in an ambulance, unconscious, with his head wrapped around bandages and bleeding from his head...what if something would've happened to him?"

"But it didn't" Naomi interrupted immediately. "He's good, he's inside there laughing and joking and having a good time with the rest of us…He's doing alright. He is a fighter, he pulls through."

"He _is_ a fighter, he's so brave…but I can't help and still see him as my baby and just thinking…"

"Don't think...just erase it from your mind. Think of something else " Naomi smiled and walked over closer to where Emily was standing and pulled her phone out of her pocket for a second. "Check this out…"

She stepped a tiny bit closer, close enough to be right behind Emily and she purposely wrapped her arms around her ex-wife and held the phone between her hands.

"W-when was this?" Emily said a bit nervous at feeling Naomi so close to her.

"While you and Jenna were at the market…Hanna hadn't seen him since what happened because she was asleep when we came from the hospital this morning…look at her face when she sees him."

"Oh my gosh" Emily said laughing as she saw her baby niece literally jump off her grandfather's legs and try walking toward Liam when she saw him. At seeing her Liam ran over and took her in his arms and starts to fill her up with kisses.

"Isn't that the most adorable thing on earth?"

"She's absolutely in love with him…isn't she?" Emily says still watching the video of Liam and Hanna playing around while still wrapped into Naomi's embrace.

"Who wouldn't be in love with him? He's so beautiful, just like his mama." For a second Emily closed her eyes and fell into Naomi's embrace a bit further. She felt so comfortable in her ex-wife's arms that for a second there she had forgotten everything else and was just enjoy being this close.

Naomi was just as delighted and just as enthralled by the warmth and the smell and the amazing feeling of having Emily so close to her. Ever since she'd known the truth from Jenna she'd resolved in her mind that no matter how far this entire thing had gone with Emily…no matter how much they had hurt each other and even if they weren't even legally-bounded to one another anymore…she wasn't gonna give up on her. She was gonna fight. This was Emily, for fucks sake…she wasn't just anyone. She was the love of her life. She was special. She was her everything.

"He is rather beautiful, our boy…inside and out" Emily said caressing the still of the video she had just finished seeing. "We make beautiful children Naomi Campbell."

"Yea, we definitely do... I think we should've made like eight more of him…"

_"Come on mama, pleaseeeee"_

_"No Liam, I already said no…your mum and I have talked about it quite a bit…I said no" Emily said the final words a bit louder so that Naomi, who was in the other room could hear her. _

_She took her son by the face with both her arms and kissed him on the nose, something that made Liam wipe his face and run off toward Naomi who was in the living room reading._

_"Sorry mummy, she said no again…"_

_"I heard her" Naomi said loudly. "But we won't give up…she'd bound to give in sometime" _

_"I won't" Emily said from inside Liam's room where she had been cleaning up a bit before her parents got in to see them that afternoon. "You think I am gonna have another child when I already have two of them?"_

_"Two?" Naomi said looking up from her book a bit upset. "Are you counting Jagger as child?"_

_"No, I am counting you…look this mess Naomi…my mum and dad are gonna be here in like less than an hour and you've got books throw all around the room…it looks like they detonated a bomb at the library or something."_

_Liam laughed at the thought as he looked at all the books his mum had pulled out of the bookcase to help him research for his school project on genetics. _

_"Mummy says that next time you're pregnant, it's gonna be twins mama" Liam said as he helped Naomi pick up the books from the floor where they've been sitting together. _

_"What?You promised him twins?"_

_"Or triplets" Liam said happily. _

_"Triplets?" Emily looked at Naomi a bit upset."What are you insane? Does it look like this body can fit in triples?" She said pointing at her belly. _

_"I didn't promise him neither twins nor triplets…I said that the possibility of having multiples is higher on you because you're a twin and also because of the fertility procedures make you more prone to having multiples…I was just trying to explain to him how it works…"_

_"Yea well, it's a good thing we won't have to worry about either of that happening since I am not having a baby...or two...or any..."_

_"Why wasn't I twins?" Liam said after finishing placing the last of the books away. _

_"Because there is a God" Emily said kissing him on the head. "Like I said, two children in this house is quite enough for me…now be a good boy and go clean up before gram and granddad arrive... you too Naomi" She said to her wife who was standing right next to their son still in her pyjama pants. _

_"Fine" they both said at the same time as they walked over to their bedroom to get ready. _

_Emily rolled her eyes at the mere thought of having another child. Naomi was crazy if she thought she was gonna convince her of having any more children. Liam (and Naomi) for her were quite enough of a hassle. Having another child was just too insane a thought to even let it cross her mind. _

"I wouldn't say eight more, but maybe one more…" Emily answered turning around and handing the phone over to Naomi.

"Really?" Naomi said a bit surprised at what Emily was saying. Of course at the moment the subject of more children was completely null because of their situation but just hearing those words come out of Emily's mouth made Naomi's heart flicker just a tiny bit.

"Yea well, maybe it's seeing all that Katie is going through with Hanna…the first steps, the first words…it's all so sweet and lovely. Especially her being a little girl because you get to buy her all these little dresses, and the bows, and the tiny little shoes…you should see the little shoes Katie and I bought her the other day. So darling."

Naomi's smile was a bright as the sun at the moment and watching Emily's face light up with joy over the thought of having another child. At the moment she had her so close to her, still caught in her arms and she had to control herself from filling her entire face full of kisses. She closed her eyes for a second and pictured a tiny baby Emily, with the huge brown eyes and her tiny little arms and that fine brown hair. She'd seen millions of pictures of her and Katie when they were Hanna's age (and at all ages, Jenna and Rob were huge on taking photographs) and she was about to melt from utter enchantment from the thought of having another child with her beloved Emily.

"Too bad we…" Emily said looking down at the floor, her smiling turning into sorrow instantly. "You know…"

For a moment Naomi stayed quiet, still holding on to Emily who could hardly look at her. She knew that this was all her fault, she knew that if she had been a better woman…if she hadn't been so fucking stupid then maybe none of this would've happened. She hated herself for it…she hated that she had destroyed their entire life and she wanted so much to be able to fix it. She didn't wanna give up.

"If you'd just be willing to forgive me…be willing to listen…" Naomi said with a knot in her throat. She knew that as soon as she brought the subject up, Emily was gonna retreat back into 'battle-mode' but though she enjoyed being able to hug and touch and caress Emily (who for some reason was allowing her to these things, she still couldn't understand why) she wanted them to face their fear and talk about things and fix them.

She loved being like this with her, she truly did. But she didn't want to share just tiny moments with Emily…she wanted, no, she needed every moment with her. She needed her all the time. She wanted her for a lifetime, and beyond that if it was possible.

"Don't start Naomi" Emily retracted from their embrace a bit pissed off at the words coming from Naomi's mouth. "Why do you insist on ruining every moment?"

"Because I want you to listen...I need you to listen to me. If you would just hear me out, I know that you could forgive me…"

"I can't" Emily answered rapidly. "I can't forgive you and I can't forget what you did…I can never forget, Naomi. I can't erase those memories from my mind. Can't you fucking understand that?"

"If you would just heart me out...if I could just explain what happened..."

_"You sure this is it? Room 2602? Nobody is answering me, Kate" _

_"That's it…that's the room number that Naomi texted Cook, he forwarded the text to me. Just knock harder, he said she was well out of it when they spoke a few hours earlier and that's why he got so worried and called me. He wanted me to go over and make sure she's okay while he can get back from Glasgow…he sounded really worried."_

_"Still no answer" Emily said placing back against the wall adjacent to the room Naomi was supposed to be in. "God I hope nothing happened to her…she was quite upset when she left…I've been so worried sis…I never wanted it to all turn this way…I didn't even know she knew about the birth certificate...how did she even find out? She was so devastated Katie...what if she did something to herself…"_

_"Don't say that, alright? Naomi would never do that. She's a daft cow but she's not stupid enough to off herself because of something like this…she's just upset. She'd been drinking, maybe did a little something else and she's probably just sleeping it off in the middle of the bed…just knock harder. Kick the door if you have to. Eventually she'll answer it."_

_At her sister's suggestion Emily turned around and started knocking really hard on the door, both knocking and kicking at it. After just a bit she heard some noise and some cursing and then the door flung open, but instead of finding Naomi behind it she found someone else. _

_A half-stakers Sophia Moore holding some towels in her hands. _

_"What in the bloody hell?"_

_"Emily...holy shit..."_


	20. Chapter 20

**Hi everyone. I am sorry it's taking me so long to update but I've been having quite a horrid few weeks with bad news hitting me left and right. But today I was able to relax and finally get over my tad bit of writer's block enough to update at least this chapter for now. I am hoping this keeps on going so that I can update you sooner. **

**As always, thank you for your reviews. I am happy to read them all and see all the follows of my story despite the fact that the fandom is a bit slow these days. Love Naomily, love you guys...here comes chapter 20...**

**P.S. Skins doesn't belong to me, but Liam does and I like him more each and every day. Maybe we will have more Naomily children, they do make beautiful kids together, don't they? Also, mistake are mine as I have no beta. Good weekend my lovelies, don't forget to review. :)**

* * *

_20_

"Emily please…let's talk about this." Naomi said grabbing her ex-wife by the wrist so that she wouldn't leave her. They needed to talk.

"I can't Naomi…I can't talk about this right now" Emily answered, almost unable to breath from the pain she felt in her throat and all over her body. This entire thing was just as painful for the redhead who seemed to have been living in a rollercoaster of emotions ever since she'd arrived at Glasgow three days before. "I need to go"

"Em, please don't do this…please don't go away like this…Emily I'll do anything, baby…anything you want me and need me to do, anything it takes to just erase all of this from our life…"

Naomi couldn't handle it anymore. She'd had enough of that fighting; she just wanted it to stop already. She wanted her back, she wanted them back. She was willing to do whatever Emily wanted as long as it meant they could be together again.

"That's just it Naomi…you cannot erase any of this, you can't undo what's already done. You cannot change what's already happened, can you?"

_"Where the hell have you been Naomi? I've been up half the night waiting for you!"_

_Emily had been sitting in her living room for what seems to be hours on end waiting for her wife to arrive from who knows where. Just a few hours before they'd had a really awful fight, one very similar to those they had been having for weeks almost on a daily basis. _

_And the worse part of all was that Emily wasn't even sure why it was that they were really fighting about. She could only deduce that Naomi was angry or upset with their new living arrangements and that wasn't handling the whole being-a-full-time housewife thing too well and Emily hated that. _

_But though Emily felt bad about the way Naomi was feeling, she also felt it was really unfair that Naomi was acting so childish about everything. All of a sudden in the last few months they had began fighting about stupid little things that seemed petty and rather insignificant at the time but that suddenly turned into huge rows lasting for hours and even days. And the worst part was the way it ended, as it always did…Emily yelling and Naomi leaving the house after slamming a few doors. _

_These fights had Emily on the edge, but she tried to stay calm and prevent from furthering the fights because in a way she felt as though they were her fault. But it was this last fight…the fight that they had had just a few hours prior that sent Emily over the edge and that was when it all started. The shit had finally hit the fan. _

_"Does it even matter where I was Emily? Do you even actually fucking care?"_

_"I course I care…do you think I'd be sitting here waiting for you since 9 PM and it's now…what 4 AM…4 fucking AM, Naomi and not a single phone call, not a text...now tell me where you were…"_

_"It's none of your business where I was Emily…"_

_"None of my business? Of course it's my fucking business Naomi…you're my wife…" Emily said almost starting to cry, but preventing herself from doing it. _

_"Yea, well then starting acting like it" Naomi said between her teeth as she waddled over toward the kitchen trying to find something else to drink. She felt she needed another drink at that moment. _

_"Don't you think you've had enough?" Emily said taking the drink Naomi started to prepare from her hands. "Why are you doing this Naomi? Why are you acting this way?"_

_Naomi took the full glass from her wife and started to walk away while she drank it down slowly. _

_"What's gotten into you?" Emily repeated with such hurt in her voice she was sure she was about to burst into tears. "You've been acting like this for weeks now…tell me what's going on, baby…please….tell me what's wrong…"_

_"I told you there's nothing wrong, alright?" Naomi said finishing up her drink and standing up from the chair to go grab another. "I am just having a little fun...just going out with Cook and the mates…"_

_"That's a lie…you're fucking lying to me. Cook isn't even in town, He went to see dad in Scotland…I called Katie…" _

_Naomi did not answer back; she started walking away as if Emily wasn't talking to her. At the sight of her wife walking away, the redhead grabbed her by the wrist. She'd had enough. _

_"Naomi…answer me…what the fuck is going on? Please tell me what it is….tell me what's wrong…"_

_Naomi turned around and looked at her with tears in her eyes. _

_At seeing her wife start to cry Emily's heart broke into a million pieces. The way Naomi was looking at her, that dead stare…those eyes that had once looked at he with such love and tenderness and kindness now couldn't even look up at her. She knew that something grave had happened. She knew that something had changed and whatever it was, shed wanted to fix it…but first she needed to find out how. _

_"Please tell me what's wrong baby" Emily said approaching her wife slowly, almost hoping this would be the end of this huge bump in their relationship. She was prepared to fix whatever it was that was broken. She wanted this to end and she wanted Naomi, her Naomi back to the way she was always...she wanted their beautiful, wonderful, amazing life together back the way it always was...the way it was always supposed to be. _

_"Trust me…I can handle anything."_

_Naomi said quiet for a minute, with Emily standing just inches away from her. She could've ended it all at that moment. She could've given up like she wanted to and fallen into her wife's arms and allowed her to hold her and make things better somehow. But she didn't. Not after what she had seen just hours prior. _

_"That's just it" Naomi said after taking a long breath. "I can't trust you"_

_"What? Why?" Emily answered confused as to why her wife would say something like that. "When have I ever betrayed your trust? When had you ever had a single reason to doubt me?" _

_"Where did you go this afternoon after we had a fight, Emily?"_

_"I told you, I went to the market to pick up some curry…"_

_"Did you go alone?"_

_"Did I go alone…yes I went alone, I told you that I was taking Liam over to Charlie's house for his birthday party…I dropped him off first and then…"_

_"I didn't mean Liam, Emily…stop acting like I am a fucking idiot…I asked if you were alone…or did you go with someone? Were you with someone else this afternoon after we fought Emily…" _

_"I wasn't…"_

_"So you weren't with Mandy this afternoon at Smith's pub?"_

_"Naomi, no I..."_

_"So then it was Katie, dressed as you…with a fucking redheaded wig getting cozy with Mandy…it was fucking Katie, who she had all wrapped up in a very cozy embrace...was it?"_

_"Wait were you following me?"_

_"Was it Katie, Emily? Was it your fucking twin sister who was hugged up with you fucking…your assistant…your fucking assistant, Emily…"_

_"So it is you…you've been following me and you've been searching my purse and my phone…I thought it was Liam…I punished Liam thinking he was going through my things and this whole time you've been…you've been spying on me…"_

_"With reason…"_

_"With reason? No…you had no reason…"_

_"So you hugging up with Mandy…that's just normal…that's just normal friendly behavior…so maybe that's what I should be doing when I go out with my friends…oh wait…I don't have friends…I can't have a friend because you are too fucking jealous for me to make a single female friend out there without it meaning something else and yet…here you are…cozing up with your little assistant behind me back…"_

_"That's not fair Naomi..that's not…" Emily said as she started to cry… "That's not what we we've been doing…it's not what you think. She was just…"_

_"Just what?"_

_"She was comforting me… because of you…the way you've been behaving lately…I was crying and she..."_

_"Oh so it's my fault…so now you're gonna blame ME…of course, it's my fault…it's always my fault. I have been nothing but straight with you Emily. I fucking…I've told you every single thing that happened with me. I even told you about Sophia…I told you about the kiss, I told you about her stalking me afterward…I have been nothing but straight with you about everything and you had done nothing but lie to me…"_

_"Lie to you? I have never lied…nothing is going on with Mandy and I…why the fuck won't you believe me?"_

_"Because I can't…because you're a fucking liar…"_

_"How am I a liar? When have I ever lied about anything in your entire relationship Naomi…"_

_"I know about the birth certificate, Emily…"_

_"You what?"_

"You want me to listen to you? You want me to hear you out now…but did you listen to me, Naomi? Did you hear me out when I told you I would explain thing about the issue with Liam's birth certificate…"

"No, but I…"

"No, you didn't…you didn't listen. You completely closed off. You ran off and you went on your rant and you didn't listen to me, you didn't care. All you cared about was how much it hurt _you_…how much pain _you_ were in…you didn't care about me or Liam or anyone else…as long as _you_ were hurt then everyone else deserved to get hurt…"

"Emily…I…"

"You didn't give a fuck about us or about anything. You didn't ask, you didn't care to ask why...and now _you_ want_ me_ to listen to you, Naomi? So you can explain what? That you were in so much pain that you decided it was okay to _cheat on your wife_ with the fucking crazy bitch who'd been stalking you for years…"

"No, Em…but I…"

"Let me finish Naomi…you wanted to talk about it, didn't you?…so let me say it. Let me fucking get it out of my system now because …" Emily said as her voice started to crack.

"Emily" Naomi said moving toward her and starting to pull her into a hug, but before she did that Emily pushed her away.

"We were special…we were special and you ruined us, Naomi."

Naomi stayed quiet just staring at Emily who placed her hand on her face and started to cry.

"Everything's so fragile…didn't you realize that?"

_"I am sorry" Naomi looked up at the sight of her beautiful, sensual, amazing wife dressed up in the sexiest piece of lingerie she'd ever seen on her and bit her lip and looked down at Liam who was now splayed across their bed holding on to his mummy as if someone was gonna take her away from him. _

_"What is he doing here?" Emily whispered as she walked over with a bit of an upset face and sat on the other side of the bed in the hotel that Cook and Katie had rented out for the night before they left for their honeymoon the next morning. _

_"He was kicking and screaming and pretty much woke up the entire floor until someone called the manager and Cook finally budged and brought him over….he says he's sorry and that he'll pay for our hotel for another day in the Bahamas if we want" _

_Emily smiled and shook her head and then walked over toward the bed and moved Liam underneath the duvet and got into the bed closer to her son and wife. _

_"Naomi moved her son a bit and pulled herself closer over to her wife and took her by the chin and kissed her softly. "You look gorgeous, Mrs. Campbell." _

_Emily smiled, even though they hadn't agreed to changing their name or even thought about it for some reason hearing Naomi call her that made her incredibly happy. _

_"I love you Mrs. Fitch" Emily responded as she caressed Naomi's face and moved as close as she could without waking up Liam who was fast asleep between them. _

_Naomi moved her hand behind her and turned off the last bit of light and then they were in the dark, moonlit room looking at her each other, a bit too far away from what Emily had anticipated they'd be by this time of the night but neither of them could wipe that huge smile off their face. This was indeed, the happiest moment of their life. _

_"This wasn't exactly how I thought our night would be ending" Emily said as she caressed her new wife's face with her fingers and allowed Naomi to kiss the tips of her fingers. "I wanted everything to be perfect today and now look…" Emily said looking down at Liam who looked more content then the two of them together. _

_"It's even more perfect than we could ever hope for…" Naomi answered as she smiled and kissed her wife's hand once again. _

_Emily smiled because she knew very well at that moment that she'd made the right choice. All the way up to then, for almost six years of her life she had questioned whether or not the decision of allowing Naomi into her and her son's life was a good one. Even the last few years, she still had little bits of doubt that would float up in her mind once in a while when things weren't going as well as she hoped. But little by little, with each and every gesture, with each passing moment, with each one of Naomi's words and kisses and actions her doubts had been erased one by one and now she was completely sure…she had no doubt whatsoever in her mind that Naomi was the person she was meant to be with for the rest of her life. _

_"You're even more perfect than I could've ever hoped for" Emily stretched to get a bit closer and pressed her lips against her wife's softly. _

_"I am not perfect" Naomi said kissing Emily on the lips on more time and then on the forehead before the redhead moved back to the way she'd been laying. _

_"You don't need to be, as long as you never stop loving us…" Emily said kissing her son on top of his head and then taking her wife's hand in hers. _

"Emily….Emily I love you…I still love you, baby, I always have…I've never stopped…"

Emily pretended not to hear a word her ex-wife was saying to her, though every single word fell upon her like acid rain, burning from the outside to her very insides.

"Please stop walking away from this…please listen to me baby." Naomi ran in back of Emily who was a few feet away from walking into the double doors of her parents' house and abandoning the conversation with her ex-wife, one more time.

"I never cheated on you, baby…nothing happened with Sophia…"

Emily stopped cold without turning around to face her wife. She just stood there looking toward the house and listened.

"I swear on Liam's head, I swear on my mother's head…I swear on everything that is honest and true that I was never with her, baby…I could never cheat on you…I could never touch that woman because for me it's always been you and nobody else. Emily….I've always loved you and I've loved you from the first time I saw you and I've loved you every single second after that. I've loved you always, I'll love you forever and I could never ever stop."


	21. Chapter 21

**Hi guys, I am having a bit of writer's block so this is why this one is a bit short, but I am gonna try to update more very soon so hopefully that will make up for that. Thanks for your reviews, I am so very happy you like it and I am glad you're following along. **

**As ush, I don't have a beta reader and the characters don't belong to me. Number 21...**

* * *

_21_

_"I've loved you forever and I could never ever stop"_

The words were still resonating in her ears as Emily turned around and face Naomi, her eyes filled with tears at what she was hearing.

Though she hadn't wanted to, Naomi smiled at bit…not because she was glad to see Emily hurt…the least she ever wanted to do was hurt Emily more than she already had. But for some reason seeing Emily tearing up filled her with the hope that these last words she'd said to her had finally broken through the hard cold surface that Emily had built around herself to keep Naomi away.

She walked over toward Emily slowly, so sure and ready to take her in her arms and kiss away each and every single tear that she had caused but when she was finally in front of her, ready to take her wife in her arms Emily pulled away immediately.

"No" Emily said wiping away the tears from her eyes rapidly. "You can't just…like…no"

Emily wasn't sure why she'd pulled away so quickly. All she knew was that she didn't want Naomi nearby her at that moment. All she wanted to do was leave. She turned around immediately, determined to walk away from Naomi as fast as she could and get back inside the house, but for some reason she couldn't move her feet. She didn't have control over herself, over her body. She tried not to cry, she tried not to feel all those things she was feeling but at this point her stomach was full of knots and she felt she could be sick at any moment.

"Em" Naomi's voice quivered with emotion at seeing her ex-wife turn away again. "Don't you love me anymore?"

"Hey, you two…Lunch is ready and you are not gonna believe who is here…" Katie, much as she usually did walked in and interrupted the conversation Emily and Naomi were having.

"Emily…Ems are you crying?"

At seeing her sister watching them both Emily turned around to face Naomi and told her twin to leave them alone.

"No, I will _not_ leave you alone…you're crying."

"I am not…" She said wiping her tears. "I am not crying and even if I am this isn't any of your business so would you _please_ leave us alone for a minute?"

Katie stood there, a bit hurt at the way her sister was talking to her but also worried about what could be going on.

"Naomi…I…" she tried to say, but Naomi interrupted her immediately.

"Kate, please…give us a minute, would you? We'll be there in a bit…" She said in a very soft voice.

"Of course…"

Katie took another second to sigh and then turned around and walked back inside while Naomi took this as a chance to walk closer to her ex-wife and took her hands in hers.

"Guess that twin telepathy thing isn't a myth…is it? How _does_ she do that with such accuracy?" Naomi joked a bit as she moved even closer toward Emily and started to wipe the tears that were falling off her face again.

Emily stood there for a minute, allowing Naomi to wipe her tears and taking deep breaths as she felt her ex-wife suddenly step even closer and kiss her forehead and take her in her arms. "Wouldn't it have been funny if when we'd decide to have a baby, if it would've been twins? Liam would've loved that…If you really want to we can start to try…we can look into IVF or if you don't wanna be pregnant again then maybe adoption, or I can try it too, you know…Though I can tell you that I will be a really annoying pregnant woman…"

"I don't know" Emily answered as she stepped back from Naomi's embrace once again.

"Alright, then…that's fine…I am getting ahead of myself, it's just that before when you were saying you wanted another baby my heart just jumped full of joy because I've been dreaming of another baby or so long…but you're right…there's a lot to talk about but we can do that later…we'll just go back in and eat lunch and then we could sit and talk about…"

"No…I mean…I don't know…about your question. You asked me if…"

"If you still love me…"

_"Babe?"_

_Naomi's eyes were in pain from complete lack of sleep as it had been the third time during that week that Emily had woken her up in the middle of the night complaining of a pain or what she thought was sure to be contractions, but weren't. _

_Of course as intense as Naomi had been about the entire pregnancy up to then, her intensity had tripled as the doctor had confirmed that the baby was now going beyond his due date and that they'd give him just a few extra days until they were going to have to perform c-section on her. So in the last few weeks of her pregnancy Naomi had insisted so much that Emily stay with her at Gina's house, that in the end Emily had no choice but to accept just to get her off her back. She didn't trust doctors or hospitals or anything._

_Just like her mother, Naomi despised anything to do with conventional medicine and if it wasn't because of her Jenna and Rob insisting that Emily be treated by the same doctor that delivered her, Katie and James…Gina and Naomi may have had her give birth in some kind of a birthing tub or in the forest or something too "hippy-like" for Jenna's liking as Naomi was completely sure that any complications with the pregnancy were the fault of all those doctors they made her girlfriend go to. _

_"Yes, honey" She answered in a thread of a voice as she pulled a very pregnant Emily even closer to her and kissed her on the forehead. _

_"It's been seven months since we met" Emily said smiling. _

_"Oh really?" Naomi moving a bit so that Emily could lie on her side and then taking her into her arms once again. _

_"Yea…" Emily answered, taking her girlfriend hand in hers and kissing it lightly. _

_"So does that mean we gotta break up now?" Naomi joked and then placed a small kiss on the back of Emily's head. _

_"Break up?" Emily turned around with a scowl. "What do you mean…" _

_"I asked you to give me nine months…to try it out…and you said you could only give me seven…"_

_"Oh yea" Emily said laughing. "You scared the shit out of me…why would you think this meant we'd break up?" _

_"I don't know…maybe you realized that I am a little too intense, extremely stubborn…and I talk too much and that I am a bit of a mess…" Naomi answered. _

_"Yea well, I am not perfect either, you know…"_

_"See that's where you're wrong…you're absolutely perfect…in fact, you're so perfect…they had to make two of you…" Naomi said laughing. _

_"Wait until I tell that one to Katie…she's gonna love hearing that."_

_"Oh Jesus, don't…don't wanna feed her ego…If she ever heard I said that she might start to think I love her or something…"_

_"But you do…" Emily said as she smiled. _

_"Only because I love you so much…I can't help but love her, and Rob and Jenna…hell I even love James just a little…even if it still creeps me out that he spends the entire time I am at your house staring at my tits."_

_Emily laughed at thinking how lucky she'd find to find someone as loving as Naomi. She wondered for a minute what could've happened if she had met her in other circumstances, perhaps in school or in college…they had both gone to Roundview together and somehow they had never met. Imagine if they had. _

_"Are you always gonna love me?" Emily turned around to face her girlfriend once more time. _

_Naomi smiled just a bit and then kissed her girlfriend on the forehead again. "Do you think I have a choice?"_

_Emily stayed quiet and pulled Naomi even closer to her and moved turned her face and kissed her on her cheek very softly. _

_Naomi kissed her back again and again and caressed her very pregnant belly with the tips of her fingers. _

_"What about you?" Naomi said after a few seconds. "Will you love me always?" _

"You don't know?" Naomi asked with such pain in her voice that it made even Emily start to cry again. "What are you saying Emily?"

Emily tried to move closer to Naomi and take her by the hand. She wasn't sure why she had said that…she had so many doubts in her mind about everything that had been happening, but seeing the pain in her ex-wife's eyes as she heard her say those words broke her up inside.

"That's not what…I don't mean that I don't love you…I mean that…I am just…I am not sure _what_ I feel..."

"About me?"

"About this…about you telling me nothing happened with Sophia, and Liam's accident and us signing the divorce papers all just happening in the last like 48 hours…Naomi…my head is spinning…I am confused…I don't know how to act…I don't know how to react to all this…"

Naomi stayed quiet just staring at Emily who couldn't stop crying. Out of all she had expected to hear from Emily after her confession about Sophia, the least she'd ever expected was for Emily to tell her she wasn't sure she loved her…

"I just need some time…" Emily said after catching her breath. "I need some space, some time to just…think"

After hearing those words from Emily, Naomi hadn't been able to look at her in the eyes again. She looked down at the grass and tried to catch the air that was now missing from her lungs.

"Fine" Naomi said a bit hurt and she wiped her tears off her eyes with one hand and then crossed her arms and started to walk past Emily toward the house.

"Naomi" Emily said as she moved her arm and grabbed her ex-wife by the arm to stop her a second. "Promise you'll wait for me"

Naomi looked at her with her arms still crossed, as if she was trying to guard her own heart.

"Haven't I always?"

_"What are you doing here again Naomi?"_

_"Waiting" Naomi answered, well knowing that what she had been doing for the past weeks hadn't had any success. _

_But despite the fact that Emily would hardly look at her, she'd hardly give her time to utter a few words before walking away from her Naomi wasn't willing to give up. _

_She had promised herself that she wasn't gonna give up on this until Emily forgave her…or at least listened to her. She knew that it was gonna take a long time, especially after what Emily had seen that night. The way in which she'd found her with Sophia was way too compromising and she knew Emily wasn't gonna understand…she wasn't gonna allow her to talk. But she also had faith that deep inside Emily loved her and one day, after watching her waiting for her at the door of their building to talk to her Emily would finally give up and let her explain things. _

_"You know this is annoying as fuck Naomi, you doing this isn't gonna change what happened. I need you to stop…I need you to give up on this stupid idea that you're somehow gonna convince me to listen to you just because you stand here and wait for me each morning…"_

_"At least you're talking to me…that's a start."_

_"It's not a start…I am not gonna start to talk to you, this isn't a sign or a start of anything. You are stalking me and this is illegal…"_

_"Report me then" Naomi said calmly, well knowing Emily would never do something like that. Her response only irked Emily even more. _

_"We are OVER, Naomi…this is OVER. Now sign the damn papers that my lawyer sent you and leave me the fuck alone. I am tired of waiting for your stubborn arse!" _

_"I won't…I am not signing...I waited years for you to be ready to love me, to move in with me, to be my wife so I am not afraid of waiting…I'll wait every minute of every hour until my last breath as long as you still love me." _


	22. Chapter 22

**_Thank you guys for following and commenting on my story! Like always, I am glad you're liking it and keep the reviews and PM's coming, I love hearing back from you. _**

**_This chapter includes one of my favorite characters from the entire series. I am not sure why it is that I like this character so much, but I reckon it has to do something with her philosophy in life. I like people who aren't perfect and who could admit they are a bit shit at things (like she is with being a mum.) I guess you could now guess who I am talking about...so I'll go on and let you read...here's number 22..._**

**_As usual, unbeta'd and characters are (mostly) theirs...Happy Saturday my peeps. :) _**

* * *

_22_

"Mummy, guess who is here?"

Liam ran over toward Naomi who entered the living room where the entire family was sitting waiting for Jenna and Katie to finish cooking lunch.

"Mum?"

She hadn't seen her for a bit, almost five months to be exact but when she saw her she was sure she'd been heaven sent, because despite the fact that Naomi had never been quite close with her mum at that exact moment, with all that was happening with Emily she needed to be nearby her like never before.

Before Gina could say anything her daughter ran over toward her and gave her a hug, one that Gina welcomed with open arms.

"Mum what are you doing here? I thought you were still in…"

"Ireland?...yea, well…guess I am here now, aren't I?"

Gina held on to her daughter a bit more and pulled her down a bit to kiss her forehead and then looked up and saw Emily walking in behind her a bit lost in space.

"Emily, my darling…it's be so long. I am so glad to finally see you."

Without letting go of Naomi, Gina pulled Emily into a hug…something that made Naomi uncomfortable enough to pull away from her mum and take Liam by the hand.

"I am glad to see you too Gina" Emily answered so softly that no one but Gina could've heard what she said. Her voice was noticeably scratchy, much like it did when she'd cry after her and Naomi had a fight.

And Gina knew that things weren't well, she knew everything that had been going on because both Naomi (and Cook) kept her up to date on what had been happening with her and Emily. But instead of butting her head in, she'd preferred to stay out of everything because she felt as though Naomi and Emily had enough of their family (and others) intervening in their business. This was their battle and they had to fight it on their own. She was sure this was the correct way to handle this all.

At least she thought it was. But now that she was (still) holding on to her short, brown-haired daughter-in-law in her arms and watching Naomi's sorrowful eyes as she talked to their son she thought maybe she should've done things differently. Maybe Naomi did need her after all.

"Lunch is served…"

Katie came out of the kitchen wiping her hands with her apron and pointed them all toward the dining room.

"Liam, honey, go call dad and Kirean"

"Who the heck is _Kirean_?" Naomi asked a bit confused on who Katie was talking about.

"He's my new grandpa, mummy" Liam answered as he walked away from his mum and into his grandfather's study where Rob had been showing Kirean his golf equipment.

"Your new what?"

Gina smiled because though it wasn't very pleasant, hearing her daughter's foul reaction to what Liam was saying showed her that underneath those sadden blue eyes there was still a bit of that petulant Naomi she knew and loved dearly.

"My new husband dear" She said as if what she was saying was not news to the blonde.

"Husband?" Naomi asked even more upset then before. "What do you mean husband? You got married, when did you…how did you…?"

"We married a few days ago, spur of the moment…he had been courting me for quite a bit while I was in Bristol and then I went Ireland to oversee the construction of the two new centres there and he was there and kept on asking me out but I was always too preoccupied with everything to even allow a date…and then all of sudden, last Saturday…"

"Last Saturday? You mean to tell me you went on one single date about a week ago and now you're married to the man! Of all the idiotic things you've ever done mum…this is by far, the stupidest…"

"Oh please" Katie said, as she placed a large platter of food in the middle of the table where Gina, Naomi and Emily were sitting waiting for Rob, Liam and Kirean to arrive. "Like you're one to talk, took you three weeks to agree to have a kid with my sister…"

Naomi rolled her eyes at her sister-in-law because though she knew Katie was right, she was far too upset to know right from wrong at the moment. All she wanted to do was yell at someone and of course...Gina was there just in time to be yelled at.

"You cannot compare that to this…"

"Why not?" Emily finally interjected. "They love each other"

_"Oh mate, you sure you know what you're doing here? This seems a bit spur-of-the-moment to me…what if you change your mind about this?"_

_Cook was helping his best mate Naomi store the last bit of the things she had in her flat in London into a moving-van so that she could move back into her mum's. And it was odd for Cook to see that as he could still remember how much Naomi had celebrated the day she was finally able to move out of her mother's house and into her own flat in London. _

_So now he was worried, he worried that his best mate was making a mistake by quitting her great job in London and moving back to Bristol into her mother's house and earning almost half what she was in this job because of some girl. _

_And though he could understand her, after all…he'd fallen just as hard for Katie as Naomi had for Emily…he still worried that Naomi was doing things for the wrong reasons and that she might one day regret having lost her head for this little redheaded twin that drove her mad enough to agree to take care of her child for her. _

_"I won't Cook…I have no doubt in my mind…I love her."_

_He sighed, trying to be supportive but being his best mate, Naomi knew what that sigh meant. There were no words needed with a friendship like hers and Cook's. _

_"What?"_

_"Nothing" He said throwing the last bag into the back of the van and then closing the double doors and walking toward the driver's side. _

_"That was wasn't nothing…tell me what it is…we don't keep anything from each other, Cook"_

_Cook pressed his lips in worry and then closed the van door and looked at his best mate who was now fastening her seat-belt on the passenger side. _

_"I just…don't want you to get hurt, mate…getting obsessed over a girl this way isn't good…"_

_"Obsessed? I am not obsessed!"_

_"Naoms, you just quit your job, vacated your flat and are moving back into Gina's two weeks after she tells you she's pregnant with her ex-boyfriend's child and now you wanna take care of it…It'd say that's a bit obsessive, don't you think?"_

_"I love her…" Naomi said with a mix of anger and sorrow in her voice. She thought her best mate was on her side about this. Was she wrong?_

_"I know babes…I am not saying you don't…I just don't want you to…you know…"_

_"What?"_

_"I don't want you to go through the same shit that I went through with Effy…"_

_"This isn't the same thing Cook, I am not in college battling against my best mate about which one of us gets the girl…"_

_"That's not how it was with Effy…how was I supposed to know Freds was in love with her?" Cook said very upset, before turning the car ignition. "You knw I don't do that shit...you know me well...you think I'd stab my best mate in the back on purpose? But I just…when you get obsessed the way I was with Effy, you don't think things through…you just do things that you later regret. I don't want you to do that mate, it took you a long time to get yourself back up from all that shit that went on with your dad and you're finally fine and doing well and now…if she breaks your heart…"_

_"She won't" Naomi said reassuringly. "Emily would never do that. I know it seems like too little time to know that but…I just…I know…I don't know how I know, but I just know its right. I just feel it."_

_Cook did not say anything. He had felt the same way with Effy and he knew that even though he was now with Katie and he was sure he loved her and everything was great, that Effy would always somehow be in the back of his mind and that he could lose his wits at any moment if she were to ever even slightly bat his eyes at him again. The least he wanted was for Naomi to go through that with Emily. _

_"I hope you're right" He said still unable to look at her. _

_"Look mate" Naomi said placing her right hand on his arm, for comfort. "We're past that stage in our lives…we're fine…now you got Katie and I got Emily and the baby and all is gonna be okay, alright?"_

_Cook took a moment to answer, but then he looked at her straight in the eyes and gave in. "Alright"_

_"Good…now drive excessively slowly, let's try our best to get to Bristol way past my mum's bedtime…least I wanna do is have it out with that cow right before bed…I am already exhausted thinking about having to share a house with her again..."_

At hearing Emily questioning her, Naomi backed down and looked up at Liam and Rob who were walking in next to a man with a shaggy beard who looked up at her in awe.

"Oh dear God…small world, eh?"

"You're my mum's husband?" Naomi said shaking her head in disbelief.

Kirean laughed and took Naomi by the hand and pulled her up off her chair and into a hug.

"You two met before?" Gina asked a bit confused.

"Met before? I'd say a lot more than that…Kirean here was my politics teacher at Roundview…"

"Oh yea" Emily said standing up and heading toward Kirean. "I had a class with you, first year…"

"Of course…Emily" He said leaving Naomi behind to hug the little redhead. "You had government and politics with me and your sister had sociology and you kept on coming to both lectures until I found you out because you forgot to change your shoes that day…"

"And you called me Emily instead of Katie and I answered…" Emily said laughing.

Everyone laughed along with Kirean as Naomi looked at her mum with a bit of anger about not having told her anything about her new husband, or her life or anything that was going on…as usual. She hated that…her entire life her mum was nothing but a stranger to her and she envied how close the Fitches were to one another (despite their brawls and feuds). She looked down to her feet at the thought of losing all of that now that Emily wasn't even sure if she loved her anymore. Losing Emily meant losing everything that was good in life.

Suddenly, Naomi felt completely alone. She thought about going back to Bristol, to the small flat she'd rented after the fall out with Emily and drinking her wine and watching bad TV the entire night until her eyelids gave in and she'd go to sleep. She thought about waking up with a headache and having to go to yet another temp job that she hated but had to tolerate because it was the only thing she could find at the moment.

_At least now I have a decent job. _She thought looking at Rob who smiled at her and then went back to the conversation with her mum's new husband.

She thought that maybe working with Fitch Fitness would at least keep her busy, even if she was alone. Then, she thought that now she'd have to deal with Freddy and have to answer to Rob and mind the company…that now she'd set a day or two in the week to see Liam but she'd probably be too busy or exhausted to really interact with him. She thought about how stupid she had been for getting her hopes up during that weekend at the Fitch home. She felt really strange, sitting around that table while everyone was talking and laughing and starting to serve food and eat and drink and she wanted it to be her home again…she wanted to close her eyes and go back to a time when this _was_ her home. But now it wasn't…maybe it wouldn't be ever again.

She looked up from the tray of food she had been serving herself and between the hustle and bustle of the entire family talking and exchanging plates she found Emily's eyes looking straight at her sadly.

_I do love you, I am just scared…_

Emily hadn't been able to take her eyes off Naomi the entire time they'd been back in the house and all that she'd said outside was breaking her from the insides. This was all a bit too much for her, she felt like she was about to start to cry.

"So I guess you're here on honeymoon, then" she said to Kirean, trying to shimmy herself back into the conversation after disengaging from a very tense staring contest with her ex-wife.

"I guess you're right" Kirean said as he moved over toward his wife and held her by shoulders and kissed her on the side of her head. "We came to see that Liam was all good, but now that we are here I don't see why we can't stay a few extra days and maybe rent a car-a-van and travel around Scotland…I've always wanted to see Edinburgh, play a round at the Old course at St. Andrews…see about that Loch ness monster…Maybe we can camp out like our mates Ardal and Olivia…I'll tell you, they've got some quality pictures…a whole album full of them…"

"Puff" Naomi spit out the drink she had just ingested a few minutes before. "An album full of what?"

"Pictures of Nessy, what else?" Kirean said matter-of-factly.

"Oh for fuck's sake…don't tell me you believe in all that load of mystical _bullshit_ my mum believes in too…I knew you were a right tosser while I was in college, but this is just ridiculous…"

"Naomi!" Emily looked at Naomi with a disapproving look in her eyes. Naomi completely ignored her; she wasn't in the mood to bite her tongue about anything at that moment.

"What?" Naomi said a bit harshly, something that made even Rob look at her upset.

"She wants you to stop being such a bitch to your mum's husband Naomi" Katie said not even looking at her sister-in-law in the eyes while she passed the tray of vegetables over to Jenna who sat quietly, listening.

"How am I being a bitch? Because I find their honeymoon plans a bit idiotic that makes me a bitch, Katie?"

"No, but calling them idiots for doing with their time together whatever they please sure does…" Emily answered, now a bit upset at Naomi's attitude.

"They are gonna stand in front of a lake for hours staring at it waiting and taking picture of waves in the water and pretending they see a mythical creature…on their honeymoon, Emily…If that's not the biggest waste of time and money, ever…"

"Oh you're one to talk…" Katie said sarcastically. "Eight days in the Bahamas with Emily and you both came back looking paler than when you left..."

_"Where do you think you're going?" _

_Naomi couldn't resist the urge to kiss her wife as she watched her changing into her bikini. She moved over toward her from the back and pulled her into her arms and started to kiss her neck. _

_"Oh baby, nooouu…" She said not very convincingly and as Naomi nibbled on her earlobe and started to worm her thumbs through the straps of her mint green bikini bottoms. "We've hardly left this room in five days…"_

_ "So you wanna go to the beach then?" She said as she slid her way down her wife's neck all the way to her right shoulder and gave her a small kiss. _

_"Yea" Emily bit her lip before answering. _

_"Fine then…" Naomi said smiling. "We'll put it to a vote…"_

_"A vote?" Emily asked confused. _

_"Yea…let's tally it up…ok…so you think we should go to down to the beach…I think we should stay up here and do more of what we were doing before…" Naomi smiled and moved both her hands up Emily's body all the way up to clutch her breasts underneath the bikini top. _

_"What do you reckon my "girls" would want us to do in this case?" She said caressing Emily's nipples with her thumbs._

_"You are such a cheater, Naomi Campbell..."_

"…I bet you didn't even leave the room the entire time you were there…"

"Yea we did, we went out for dinner and such...almost every night..." Naomi tried to defend herself.

"Almost..." Emily said smiling.

"Oh, Mum…Jesus!" Liam stuck out his tongue and gagged at the thought of his mother's not leaving the hotel room the entire time they were on their honeymoon. "I did NOT need to know that…"

They all laughed at Liam's reaction when hearing that from Katie. Even Jenna who was usually very conservative about these subjects cracked a smile and then looked back down at Hanna and remained feeding her while the conversation went on.

"Sweetheart, you don't have to act so alarmed…that's what people do when they are in love…they go at each other like bunnies for hours and days, nonstop… your mum is under the impression that Kirean and I are going to camp out at Loch Ness to see the monster _only _…so we will let her think that…"

"Oh Nan…I am _eating_!" Liam covered his ears with both hands as Katie and Rob both laughed out loud along with Kirean and Gina. Jenna had stood up to get another spoon for Hanna and shook her head as she watched her daughter Emily exchanging awkward looks with Naomi. She sighed at the thought that she was the cause of this entire thing and hoped there was a way to fix this somehow.

She closed her eyes and prayed to God she could find a way of fixing what she had done. There had to be something that she could do to amend all the bad she had caused her daughter and Naomi; she just couldn't figure out how.

After a minute of coming up blank she grabbed a smaller spoon for Hanna and went back to the dining room and sat down and started to feed the baby once again. She looked back up at Naomi who was now nursing a lonely ice that floated in her cup of lemonade with her finger. She looked out into nowhere, looking almost lost as Emily watched her silently.

_Lord, help me find a way to fix this. This isn't their fault…don't punish them for something I did. _

She closed her eyes for a second while her baby granddaughter grubbed on her food and then looked up at Rob, who smiled at her.

Suddendly, she had an idea.


	23. Chapter 23

**Well, I had another update in me so I have decided to post, I thought you deserve it after your nice comments and your views...I am very glad you are still interested in the story. **

**I know that Jenna is horrible (both in canon and in this fic) but I am trying to see if maybe she can be redeemed. Maybe I am just too "Emily" about this, but I do believe in people and I think they can change. Let's hope this is true for Jenna and that she can, indeed, help these two out. **

**Gina and Kirean for me are awesome characters, despite the fact that they are really only in like 2 episodes, they are by far some of the greatest characters. I am guessing maybe it's due to the way they are so well portrayed in fanfiction. I do love Gina and I hope this chapter serves her justice...let me know what you think. **

**No beta here, all characters belong to Skins (except Liam and Hanna, so far). Enjoy number 23...hope I can update very soon again. Thanks again for reading! **

* * *

_23_

"Hey you"

Gina Campbell walked out of the living room where she'd been chatting with the rest of the Fitch family, looking for her daughter who had announced she was going for a fag about 20 minutes prior.

"Hi" Naomi answered without much enthusiasm and then offered her mum a cigarette.

"Trying to finish the pack before you get back in?" She asked as she took the offer and then allowed her daughter to help her light it.

"What?" Naomi said not even aware of what her mum was talking about it.

"You've been out here for quite a bit" Gina answered, as she took a drag of the cigarette and then placed her left hand on her daughters back and caressed it lightly. "You're either trying to finish up that cigarette pack before the night is over or you just don't wanna go back inside to be with us."

Naomi looked down at the floor without commenting anything and then looked back up and kept on smoking.

Gina looked at her daughter for a bit and smoked along with her for what could've been about two minutes, hoping to get something out of her. She hated having to bring up the subject because she knew that Naomi was gonna close off as soon as she did. It was hard enough to get her to talk to her about normal stuff as it was.

"So you're not gonna tell me what's going on with you then? Are gonna make me pull it out of you?" Gina asked after a bit.

"There's nothing going on…" Naomi said quickly.

"So you're in a foul mood and snapping at everyone because…"

"Because I am a sarcastic bitch who loves undermining everyone's intelligence with my witty comebacks, come on mum…don't tell me you hadn't figured _that_ out already…you've known me for 36 years…"

"Almost 37 if you count the nine months you were inside of me…tough months those were, you had me feeling sick all over up until the very last moment…" Gina pointed out.

"I could only apologize" Naomi said a bit annoyed and then put out her fag against the stone-clad wall as she started to leave.

"Are you like this because of Kirean? Naomi, I didn't tell you because you've been going through so much stuff lately, I just didn't wanna upset you even more than you already were…"

Naomi stayed quiet for a second and then opened her mouth to say something rude, but then backed down and just sighed.

"It isn't about Kirean" Gina said moving toward her daughter and caressing her face. "It's Emily again, innit?"

Naomi did not answer anything back, she simply took the cigarette away from her mum and started to smoke it herself.

"Are you two, like…trying to get back together?"

Naomi sighed and took another drag.

"When Katie and James called me to tell me what happened to Liam I was very worried and not exactly about my grandson." Gina confessed. "By then Katie said he was out of danger and that he was just gonna be in observation but that they thought it was stress related…and you know what I asked her?"

Naomi looked at her mum and shook her head.

"Where is Naomi, why didn't she call me…" Gina answered, a bit too emotional for Naomi's liking. "I didn't even know you were here…I didn't even know you two were trying it out again…"

"We aren't trying it out again" Naomi finally spoke, her words were filled with both anger and sorrow that were mirrored in her eyes. "I…um…Katie convinced me…or well, she convinced Emily, Liam and I to come and pretend that all was okay for Rob and Jenna's anniversary party this weekend."

"Why?" Gina said moving toward her daughter and taking her hand.

"Rob hadn't been feeling well…at least that's what Katie told us. He'd been having more health issues and James is being deployed in a couple of weeks and with Cook in jail…Katie didn't want the divorce to be another blow for him so the three of us agreed to come here and just pretend all was alright…even if isn't…"

"Isn't it?" Gina said looking back through the glass doors at Emily who was staring at them as they talked.

"No" Naomi said as tears started to fall down her cheeks without her even noticing. "Everything is just as fucked up as it was three days ago…or rather…maybe just a little bit worse than it was…"

"Because of Liam's accident?"

"Because she doesn't love me…" Naomi blurted out without wanting to.

"What?" Gina asked turning to look back at her daughter.

"She doesn't love me mum, I thought she did…I thought we were getting divorced because I had acted like an idiot after I found out about the birth certificate…I thought it was because she hadn't let me explain and she was convinced I'd slept with Sophia…but it wasn't. It was because she doesn't love me…she doesn't love me and maybe she never really has..."

"Oh Naomi, darling…don't say that. Emily loves you…she always has. Even I can see that, and I am usually pretty shit at this whole 'emotions' ordeal…"

_It was 9:45 in the morning when Emily woke in her girlfriend's bed a bit astonished at what she was seeing. There was someone standing right next to her staring down at her with a silver tray that held a cup of tea on it their hands. It was Gina Campbell. _

_"Two of sugar ok?" Gina smiled widely at Emily who felt a little awkward at seeing her girlfriend's mum suddenly sit right next to her on the bed and start to spoon some sugar on to the tea cup before handing it to her. _

_"Yea" Emily said still a bit confused and then with the best of her ability (as she was enormously pregnant) she wiggled and sat up and took the cup away from the elder Campbell, still a bit unsure what she was supposed to say. _

_"Where's Naomi?"_

_"Gone to work" Gina answered rapidly, taking the tray and placing it on a nearby table. _

_"She asked me to look after you…both of you" She said tapping Emily's belly and smiling. _

_"Thank you Mrs. Campbell, but I…"_

_"Gina" the blonde woman corrected. "I hate being called Mrs. Campbell…especially because I haven't technically been Mrs. Campbell for quite some time…I just haven't gotten around to changing it."_

_"Oh" Emily said awkwardly. For some reason she found it odd that up to this date she hadn't really interacted too much with Naomi's mother and even worse that now she'd agreed to coming to live with her and Naomi in their house until the delivery of the baby. What the heck was she thinking when she'd agreed to that?"_

_"You don't have to…you know…look after me…I am fine, Naomi is just being a bit exaggerated…I'm gonna be fine" Emily answered as she went to try to get up and couldn't. _

_Gina smiled at watching the tiny redheaded girl with the biggest pregnant belly she'd seen in a bit try to move around to get up off the bed, so she stood up and offered her hands to help her up. _

_"I know I don't have to…I want to" Gina said smiling. _

_Emily smiled back at her and took her hands and pulled herself off with a bit of trouble. _

_ "I am just a little tired; I suppose…its hard carrying this one around for nine full months…and counting…" Emily said as she moved over toward where Gina had placed the tray and putting the tea cup down. "He was supposed to be due five days ago and look at me…still looking like I swallowed a crate of watermelons…he's being stubborn I guess…"_

_"Good luck with that…if he's anything like Naomi, you're gonna have your hands full for quite a bit." _

_"Yea…she is pretty stubborn sometimes, isn't she?" Emily smiled thinking of Naomi and how stubborn she was with some things and how it annoyed the shit out of her when she got that way…but also how much she loved that about her. If it wasn't because Naomi was so stubborn, maybe they wouldn't have made it this far. _

_Gina smiled back at seeing Emily's eyes filled with love as she thought about her daughter. "It's a good thing Noel isn't genetically a Campbell, or else you'd actually have to worry. Those Campbells are a stubborn bunch. "_

_"Noel?" Emily asked a bit upset. "Did Naomi say his name was gonna be Noel?"_

_"Oh honey, she didn't just say that…she calls him Noel when she's talking about him with Cook or pretty much anyone…I think she's pretty set on calling him that…"_

_"Well I am not" Emily complained. "I told her already…I am thinking of naming him Robert after my dad…or maybe James after my granddad"_

_"Well, that's a shame…" Gina said walking over toward Naomi's closet and pulling out something out of one of the drawers. "I guess this is gonna go to waste then" _

_She moved closer to Emily who shook her head and started laughing at what she saw. It was an electric blue football jersey with the name Noel written on the back with white letters. _

_"Your daughter is insane" she said taking the tiny shirt in her hand and smiling. _

_"She's not, I had her tested" Gina said laughing as well. "She's just quite a bit relentless…its in her genes." _

_Emily brought the shirt over to her nose and smelled it and held on to it while she smiled. "I can't understand what the deal is with her and naming him Noel…why is she so darn obsessed with Oasis? They aren't even that great of a band…I mean, they are good but not good enough for me to name my child after one of them…"_

_"Oh don't ever say that" Gina warned her. "She is quite fond of them…but I guess she loves them for a reason."_

_"What reason?" Emily inquired. _

_"Her dad" Gina said sitting back down next to Emily. "He was a roadie with Oasis…he toured with them since their start…he was quite good mates with Noel Gallagher, actually…"_

_"Was he?" Emily said amazed "No kidding"_

_"Oh I'd never kid about this" Gina said a bit mysterious. "He was a really good musician, very talented. He adored Naomi to pieces and she adored him as well. They were very similar. Just as smart and just as pigheaded, as well."_

_"Really?" Emily answered. If Emily hardly knew Naomi's mum, she knew about her dad even less. Every time the subject came up, Naomi would change it to something else and Emily would just allow it...she could see in Naomi's eyes that it was painful and by the way Cook had described it to Katie, it was a subject better left alone. _

_Gina stood up off the bed where she was sitting with Emily and walked outside in the hallway for a bit and then came back in with a box full of pictures and started to show them to Emily. _

_"He looked just like her too…" Gina said as she handed over a photograph to Emily. _

_"Jesus, he did…it's uncanny" Emily said smiling as she saw a picture of a tall, blonde man with clear blue eyes just like her girlfriend who was smiling and holding a baby. _

_"They were inseparable…except when he was out on tour, but even then he'd phone us from the road and sing her an Oasis song before going to sleep…her favorite song was…"_

_"…Wonderwall" Emily said smiling at remembering the many times Naomi had sat and sang that same song to the baby (or rather Emily's belly) every time he wouldn't let Emily take her afternoon nap. It was the only way to get him to stop kicking. _

_"He sang it to her constantly…that's probably why she's obsessed with it…and that's why she wants to name the kid Noel." _

_Emily shook her head and thought seriously about giving this to Naomi. She wanted to…she really did want to appease Naomi's request on naming the baby Noel but for some reason she thought the name didn't fit. She wasn't sure why. _

_She looked down at her belly and caressed it for a bit and looked at the tiny football kit in her other hand and smiled and then looked at Gina. _

_"So what was her dad's name?" _

_"It was William" Gina answered as she caressed the old picture in her hands. "But everyone called him Liam" _

"She did love you" Gina said looking back inside the house once again and meeting Emily's eyes, who looked away as soon as Gina looked at her. She placed her hand behind on her daughters shoulder and started to caress it. "I have a feeling she still does, sweetheart."

At hearing her mum's words Naomi started to cry and Gina pulled her away from the French doors and deeper into the garden, where they both sat on some outdoor chairs where Rob and Jenna would sit and have breakfast in the mornings.

"She doesn't mum…she told me she didn't…"

"She what?" Gina said a bit confused "she told you just straight out that she doesn't love you…"

"No…not straight out…we were arguing, I don't even know what it was about…we just argue all the time, you know…"

Her mum nodded, remembering the constant fighting that had gone on between Emily and Naomi right after the incident with Sophia had happened. She was sure that had stopped a while back.

"So I told her what you and Cook kept on insisting I tell her…about Sophia...I finally told her the truth"

"And she didn't believe you?"

"I thought she did…I thought she had, I mean…this entire weekend after all that had happened with Liam she was being so sweet to me, we'd spend all last night just talking to each other…it was amazing, it was all so wonderful… and then suddenly she'd allow me to hold her, to touch her…she'd even brought me breakfast and we had laughed with Liam and Katie…it was all going great…better than I expected…so when we started to argue again I just couldn't hold it anymore...I just blurted it and hoped for the best."

"So what happened?" Gina said holding on her daughter's hand. Naomi was now started to shake from crying. She was crying like she hadn't seen her crying in a very long time.

"I don't know…"

_"Liam, has a nice ring to it…" Emily said still caressing her belly. "Maybe I'll put it on my list…" _

_"Well good luck with that, Naomi hates the name William…after he left she wasn't very fond of him…she kind of hated him for a while, though I know that deep down inside she was just hurting. And to think I should be the one she should hate…" _

_Gina had said something to Emily that she had never been able to reveal to Naomi and she didn't know exactly why it was she was doing it. There was something about her daughter's girlfriend that put her at ease…something so familiar and kind in her eyes that allowed Gina to open up to her like she hadn't been able to with Naomi. _

_"Why you?" Emily asked a bit shyly, feeling bad about her impeding curiosity. _

_"Naomi doesn't know this…" Gina went on to say, as tears started to fall down her eyes and she wiped them off quickly. "She thinks he left us…she thinks that he one day went on tour and then never came back, but that isn't really what happened…"_

_"It isn't?" Emily replied. "So what happened, then?"_

_"I left him…or rather…I asked him to go. I just…I couldn't handle the way he was. He was….you know…a bit much for me. Emily, I was only 15 when I got pregnant and we got married but he was mostly on the road all the time, but that year after he came back to see us for Naomi's birthday he told me he had gotten sick of going around and he had found a job in Bristol and was gonna move here so we could be a family" _

_"And you didn't want that?"_

_"At first I was very happy. When he was gone on tour I lived with my mum and she helped with Naomi, since I was so young...she allowed me to finish college and start Uni. But then he came back and he was home all the time and it felt really great,at first, but as time started to pass it all became like a bit of prison. I was barely 21, I was younger than you are right now Emily and suddenly I had a full-time husband and I had a 6 year old child and I was so used to doing everything on my own and being free. And Liam, he was a bit over the top…he wanted to just be married and have a family, grow old together…_

_"And you didn't?" _

_"I wasn't ready to grow old…I wasn't even sure I was ready to grow up, yet…" Gina said looking down at the floor a bit ashamed at what she was saying. "I don't think I was prepared for it all. I still am in awe at how I was able to raise such a good kid, considering what I mess I've been my entire life."_

_Emily felt bad for Gina; even though she knew that Naomi wasn't too close to her she also knew that Gina was the only family Naomi had…so she made a promise to herself that she'd never reveal this to her girlfriend. The least she wanted was for the past to break the little bit of bond they still had with each other, no matter how small. _

_"So you think she's not gonna want me to name him William, then? I kinda like the way it sounds…William Robert Fitch"_

_"I think she will fight you until the end, throw a huge hissy fit about it…but she's gonna love it nonetheless. I know deep inside she adores her dad…and when you truly love someone, no matter how many times they hurt you or how much pain they cause you, you can't help but love them anyway. True love never ends"_

"I can't even handle this anymore, mum…I don't even know why I was being such a bitch to you, in there…This entire thing just, like, consumes me."

"It's alright, love"

"But isn't mum…you know that I don't hate Kirean, I don't even know him all that well. He was my politics teacher, he was a good guy to me…taught me so much and despite the fact that he complained all the time he really was very smart…he was one of the reasons why I studied what I did at Uni…"

Gina smiled not knowing that about her daughter. She thought it was such a coincidence, what a small world we actually do live in…how the people that make you happy and bring your life meaning are those you least expect.

"I know you don't hate him…and now I understand why you're this upset." Gina said moving the chair really close to her daughter and pulling her into an embrace. "But you can't give up on this, love…it isn't _like_ you to just give up, Naomi…you're a fighter…I know you can handle this and much more."

Naomi sat there, being held by her mum. She couldn't help but cry much more than she had in such a long time. The last time she'd cried that much was the day she found out that her dad had died and that feeling of emptiness that she carried around with her up after that drowned her completely.

It wasn't until she'd met Emily, until that night in that dirty old pub with her best mate, his crazy date and her feisty redheaded twin sister that she'd felt that emptiness fill up once again. It wasn't until that night when she was holding Emily in her arms for the first time that she suddenly felt alive again. Emily had filled her life with joy and happiness and love and she'd brought back that thing she lost the day she found out her dad was gone forever. Now, as her mum held her she felt the emptiness coming back…she felt like if Emily didn't love her then life didn't make sense anymore. Until that moment just before Emily uttered those words, she'd had a little bit of hope that one day she could get her life back. But now that she'd heard this, she felt like she'd lost her entire life. If Emily and Liam weren't there, she was literally gonna die without them.

"I can't handle this…I am so scared. I don't know what I am gonna do without them."

Gina looked into her daughter's eyes as she held her face with both her hands and then kissed her on the cheek, then she looked up toward the inside of the house where Liam was hugging Emily as he talked animatedly to Kirean and Rob.

"Look over there." She turned her daughter around a bit so she could see what she was seeing and pointed toward at them."You think you're ready to give all that up just because you're a little scared?"


	24. Chapter 24

**_This is one is another short one, but it's a holiday here in America and I thought I'd update just a bit more just to get the story moving along. Thanks for sharing your comments with me and for following the story, I can't thank you enough. _**

**_As per usual, my story has not been beta'd and these characters belong to the creators of Skins, only the story is mine. Let's see what happens in number 24..._**

* * *

_24_

"Hey, what are you doing up here?"

Emily walked into the room in her parents' house that she had shared with Naomi and Liam for what was quite a few years and found her there. She was packing a few things in her bag, perhaps getting ready to leave with Gina and Kirean to their hotel or maybe even going back to Bristol. Her first reaction was that she couldn't let her go, not after what had happened back in the garden before dinner. She'd said something that she didn't mean to say…or maybe she meant to say it a different way. But she knew that Naomi wasn't taking it well, she could see it in her eyes…in that sadden gaze that enveloped her entire demeanor. Naomi was broken and Emily could see that…actually, she could more than see it…she could feel it. It was odd to say, but the fact was that they shared such a bond that sometimes they felt what each other was feeling. And maybe that was crazy, but it was the truth.

"Just picking some of my stuff up and moving it to your dad's study. I talked to him about using it as a bedroom until Katiekins goes back to Bristol with Hanna and then I can take her room…"

"Babe, you don't have to…I mean, it's okay if you stay here…this room is big enough for the both of us, I can fix up the spare bed and sleep in it if you don't wanna share a bed with me…"

"That's not it" Naomi answered rapidly. She looked up at Emily trying not to show too much emotion in her eyes just like her mother had suggested a couple of hours before in the patio. She was taking her mother's advice and hoping for the best. This was her last chance.

"I wanna give you that space you asked me for…"

_"__She asked me for space, for time to think…" Naomi said a bit more calm, as she allowed her mum to caress the side of her head with her fingers. Gina was holding her daughter in an embrace they hadn't shared in many years and though this could've been quite awkward for the two blondes any other time (They weren't very touchy-feely with one another), for Naomi this felt quite right…she felt a connection she hadn't felt with her mum in…possibly, ever._

_"__Maybe that's exactly what she needs, darling…" Gina suggested, trying her best not to take sides in this matter but also knowing exactly how it was that Emily felt. After all, she could understand Emily perfectly well, because she'd lived something similar with Naomi's father right after she'd asked him to leave. And up to know she was learning the entire truth about all that had happened, so she hadn't been able to advise her daughter on the matter back then…but now she wished she could. _

_What Naomi had done, going completely insane about the news of the birth certificate and becoming self-destructive was the same exact thing that Liam Campbell had done when she had asked him to separate. At first he had only taken on drinking, but then later it was mild drugs, followed by heavier ones while at the same time following, stalking and even being a bit aggressive toward Gina and her family. _

_Gina's mum had once called the police on him and got him arrested after he had followed her to one of her PETA meetings and then had seen her talking to one of the coordinators in the parking garage after the meeting was over. He'd gone a bit insane; similar to what Naomi had done with Emily…he had completely destroyed his chances at her ever considering going back with him because by the time this was all over Gina was more afraid of Liam than anything else. Though she knew Naomi and Emily's issues hadn't gone that far…what Naomi was now telling her about Emily…her reaction, her questions, her fear of going back with her daughter she could definitely understand. But she also didn't wanna see her daughter this shattered. If she had known how to help her husband during those times, if she'd been given a chance to fix things back then she would've. She had loved Liam Campbell so much that it had taken her years to even give herself at chance at love once again and she didn't want this same thing happening to Naomi and Emily. Now this was her chance to try to fix this in Naomi's life…and she was gonna do her best at it. _

_"__Give her that space, Naomi…give her that time she needs to process it all."_

_"__But I just…"_

_"__I know" Gina gave her daughter a kiss on the side of her head and caressed her hair and went on talking. "I know that this is hurting you like crazy and that you're scared to death that Emily doesn't love you anymore and that she's gonna leave and take Liam with her and never come back…but what if that's not it. What if what she really needs is something else…"_

_"__Like what?" Naomi answers in a very soft child-like voice. _

_"__Maybe she needs to trust you again…maybe she needs to know that you are safe and that you won't go insane any time anything goes wrong. Or maybe she just needs to know that you love her and as cliché as this is gonna sound, sometimes the best way to let someone know you love them is to let them go…"_

"Naomi, I…" Emily answered a bit sadly. The least she wanted right now is for Naomi to go away from her. Seeing her that sad only made her wanna take her into her arms and hold her and kiss her and make this entire thing stop. But there was something inside her that didn't allow it…something that made her back out from it…that something was doubt…it was fear of the way she was feeling about Naomi. She was a slave of the way she felt about Naomi. She didn't know what to do with all those feelings.

"I am sorry about what I said before…about not loving you…that's not what I meant" Emily said walking toward her ex-wife and taking her by the hands.

"Emily, you don't have to…"

"I do love you" She interrupted Naomi. Before the blonde could get another word out she moved herself closer to her and pressed her forehead against Naomi's.

"I am so in love with you that sometimes I can't stand it" she whispered as she moved her right hand up to Naomi's cheek and started to caress it.

Naomi could not move, she could not breathe from all she was feeling at that moment. She pressed her eyes tight and just felt her, her presence filling the entire room around them.

"I just don't wanna fuck it up anymore…I don't wanna to do what we've done before…I wanna get it right this time…can't you understand that?"

_"__You sure this isn't just another excuse to come see me, Naomi?" _

_Naomi was back at the flat she had shared with Emily and Liam their entire lives for the first time since she'd been thrown out of it by her wife. After a few weeks of accosting Emily right outside every morning, it had been really hard for Cook to convince his sister-in-law to allow Naomi to go back into the flat to look for her passport, which she needed for a six-week job her mum had gotten her in the United States with non-profit. _

_Naomi needed that job, she needed the money and she needed to get back to working full time on her field so at the moment she would do just about anything they asked her to do as long as she had work. And though it had taken quite a bit of convincing (to both Katie and Emily, Naomi wasn't exactly Katie's favorite person in the world after what Emily had told her she'd done) Cook had finally gotten Emily to agree to allow Naomi up to her home office to look for the passport during that afternoon._

_But of course, it also wasn't just about retrieving the passport and getting that job. For some time now, Naomi had been waiting for Emily every morning outside of her building just to show her that she meant it when she said she wasn't gonna give up on them. And thought she was sure she could wait forever, Emily's lack of response to this gesture was making Naomi a bit restless. So, the fact that she'd agreed to allow her into her flat, Naomi felt, was another step forward. Emily could've refused, she could've cared less about Naomi's job or what she needed. But she had agree and this meant seeing and interacting with her wife for more than just the two minutes it too Emily to walk over to her car every morning. It was some time alone with Emily, even if it was only a few minutes it was the most she'd gotten out of Emily for a very long time. And right now, she was desperate for anything Emily was willing to give her. _

_"__I promise it isn't…it must be around here somewhere" Naomi answered as she moved through a few boxes of papers she'd tried gathering that same night Emily had thrown her out. After Emily had come home and found Naomi hadn't packed everything up, Emily hadn't cared a great deal and had finally told her to go with whatever she'd packed and that she'd send her the rest later somehow._

_But she hadn't gotten around to it…or rather, she hadn't been able to do anything in the past weeks since all she did was work and pick up Liam from school and be with Mandy…_

_"__Hey, Ems…I am sorry but I think I forgot my…oh…hi Naomi"_

_Mandy walked in with the key Emily had given her (she'd sometimes feed the dog and the fishes, pick up her dry cleaning and did anything else Emily couldn't get around to doing with the excuse that she was 'her assisstant') and found Naomi sitting in the middle of the living room rummaging through some boxes that were laid on the floor with Emily sitting next to her. _

_"__Hi Amanda" Naomi answered with such contempt in her face that it made Mandy and Emily feel instantly awkward about the entire situation. _

_At seeing what was going on Emily got up off the floor immediately._

_"I just, erm...my phone charger...I think I left it" Mandy said not taking her eyes away from what Naomi was doing. _

_"__Yes, your phone charger…I got it right here" She said as she walked rapidly toward the room and brought back the charger and handed it to Mandy and then started to talk toward the door._

_Mandy questioned Emily with her eyes a bit while Naomi silently looked through boxes a bit faster than she had been doing before, but all Emily could do was press her lips and shake her head and walk over to the door to bid Mandy goodbye. She definitely did not want her there at that moment. _

_"__Um, I think I am gonna just gonna go see about filing for a new copy" Naomi said after she heard Emily shut the door behind Mandy. "I bet if I have the company issue a letter I can get them to expedite it somehow…" _

_She moved some of the stuff into the box without even looking up at Emily who was now standing next to her watching her sadly. She could not stand to even look at her, she just wanted to take off right away before she started to cry right in front of Emily. The thoughts of Emily and Mandy being together flooded her at speeds so rapid that her brain could hardly process anything else. _

_She moved up off the chair and took her bag and started to walk and that was when Emily stepped right in front of her. "She was picking up some recipe books for 300 cupcakes we are baking for this party tomorrow and she left her charger here…but I was gonna bring it to her…"_

_Naomi didn't say anything back, she hadn't even asked a question and frankly she didn't wanna ask anything or know anything…she didn't want any excuses, she just wanted to go. _

_"__I've had quite a few clients in London and I stayed there a few days so I asked her to come feed Jagger and the fish, since Liam worries so much about them" she went on saying as Naomi opened her purse and started to look for her car keys, trying to distract herself from the anger she had suddenly started to feel. _

_"__And also, she just…" _

_"__I don't care Emily, I just…please stop talking and let me walk on through, I think I can make it to the office to get that letter, if I leave right now…"_

_Naomi was trying her best not too look like she was drowning in pain, but as every other time in their lives Emily could feel exactly what Naomi was feeling by just looking at her. She looked completely destroyed and this Emily's heart shatter just as well. She could never stand seeing Naomi in that much pain. _

_"__No" Emily answered, taking Naomi's face in her hands and turning it so she can look at her. "She's my assistant and she has a key because sometimes she needs to run errands for me while I am working long hours…"_

_"__Emily stop it" Naomi said a bit upset, she still couldn't look at her and frankly she didn't want to. She just wanted to get the fuck out of there, right now._

_"Just stop it, please" She said in a sorrowful whisper. _

_She went to remove Emily's hands away from her face but before she did Emily pulled her into a rather violent kiss. And Naomi did not wanna react, she really just wanted to go but somehow…for some reason she did just the opposite and instead of moving away from Emily and storming out she grabbed her wife by the waist and pulled her up to the nearby table, stood between her legs and kissed her back with even more force. _

_Their kisses were fierce, full of anger and pain and raw emotion and without a single thought suddenly they were pulling each other's clothes off. With a force she could not describe, Naomi took a semi-nude Emily into her arms and while still kissing her and threw her on the bed, hovering on top of her as she remained ripping the rest of her clothes off and then her own. _

_Their kisses and movement were fierce, almost combative for lack of a better word as they both displayed the awful pain they were feeling at the time. What was once tender and loving and passionate lovemaking, was now rough and jagged and filled with pain. _

_Naomi stopped herself from continuing once she felt Emily's tears drop on her. She looked straight at her and wanted so much to do anything to stop this pain that engulfed her. She simply wiped Emily's tears with her thumbs and kissed her eyes tenderly and then got up and started to find her clothes within the mess around them. _

_"__I better go before we make this any worse." She said looking at Emily who had sat up and who had her arms crossed around her almost as if she were guarding her own heart. They both stood quietly as Naomi found the remainder of her clothes and then without looking at Emily she sighed and started to walk away. _

_"__From now I'll make sure to leave you alone. Please tell your lawyers to resend the paperwork back to my address since I threw out the last three copies they sent me, I"ll be more than happy to sign the papers as soon as I come back from New York."_


	25. Chapter 25

**_Oh, you guys are so sweet...I was having such a bad day on Wednesday because I was waiting for some news and then suddenly I read all your reviews and I was so happy. I love that all of you are loving it, especially because I feel so horrible every time that I have write more and more angst. I am hoping that this next chapter you like just as well. Let me know what you think about it. _**

**_As always, I don't have a beta and nothing but the story (and Liam) is of my own...Vamos al numero 25..._**

* * *

_25_

Liam woke up in an exceptionally happy mood that morning and he became even happier as he walked into his mothers' room and found them asleep next to one another. Though this image felt familiar, something like this had happened that same morning of his accident…for some reason this all felt very different. Maybe it was the way in which they were sleeping, a bit apart yet facing each other…their hands tangled together as if they'd been holding hands the entire night. It was so sweet that he almost did not want to wake them.

He walked over toward Emily, who was sleeping on the right side of the bed (like she usually did) and lay right behind her and pulled his arms around her as his cheek brushed hers lightly. "Good morning mama"

"Good morning baby" Emily smiled and pulled herself closer into her son's embrace without opening her eyes.

"Did you have a good night?" He said as he felt his mums' hand brushing his right cheek lightly with the tips of her fingers.

She opened her eyes slowly, smiling widely as she noticed Naomi sleeping soundly right in front of her, her felt stomach flutter at the sight. That was the best sight she'd ever seen in ages.

_"Of course" Naomi said so softly that it almost sounded like a hum in Emily's ears. She opened her eyes and found Emily's beautiful brown ones watching her with such warmth and love that it filled her up inside._

_It was all like that very first time, that day in that bench in front of Keith's when she'd taken Emily's hand in hers and said hello and the little redheaded twin had looked at her. It was that spark that made her jump and made her run for her life as somewhere inside of her she knew that whatever that had been it was something she wasn't gonna be able to escape from ever again. _

_So that day she had ran, she'd bolted as if those eyes…that sparkle that exuded from Emily's gaze was some kind of an electric shock…a fire that was burning her very insides. But somewhere, somehow that very spark had brought her running back toward her…because deep inside of her Naomi knew she was scared, but for some reason…if this girl was nearby her, her fears did not really matter anymore. She felt like she could do anything. _

_"I told you before, I'd do anything…"_

_"Tell me about Sophia" _

"Yes, we had a very good night baby" she answered Liam as she bit her lip and stopped herself from brushing her fingers through Naomi's long dirty-blond hair that lay swiftly across her face as she slept.

"Good" Liam said with a tickle in his voice, one that made Emily smile and turn around, giving a sleeping Naomi her back or a second.

She took her son in her arms and held him and kissed his forehead a bit. She knew perfectly well that if there was any one person that was possibly happier than she was about this entire thing it was her son Liam. After all, even through the worse of all the worse he'd always been their number one fan. He'd always been hopeful that all was gonna turn out well. He always believed that everything was gonna be well…now it was Emily's time to be like Liam…it was her time to stop overthinking everything, to start to let go of all her fears and just…believe.

_"So what you're saying is you don't believe that I did not sleep with her?" _

_"No, Naomi…what I am saying is that I walked in to a hotel room where you were laying naked on a bed, passed out drunk while Sophia Moore, the woman who was your supposed 'stalker'…the one you had kissed that one time for no apparent reason was in her underwear with a frightened look on her face. What was I supposed to think?"_

_Naomi knew Emily was right and she had promised she was gonna do anything to fix this…she'd promised herself, she'd promised her mum…but most importantly she'd promised Emily that she was willing to do it all as long as this was all sorted. So she gave up that little bit of stubbornness and pride left in her and told Emily the entire truth. _

_"Fine…you're right…you know, I wanna try to deny it because I don't want this to hurt you even more than you already are…"_

_Emily looked down at the floor because though she'd hoped Naomi was gonna tell her somehow Sophia had drugged her, taken advantage and had planned it all, Naomi's tone of voice told her otherwise. _

_"I told you I need to know everything…so go on" Emily said with a frog in her throat and still unable to look at Naomi who was now sitting in a chair that she'd set in front of the bed. Before going on Naomi lightly nuzzled her fingers on Emily's cheek and then pulled her chin up a bit so that Emily could face her. _

_"After I left our flat that night, I was so furious that the only thing I thought of doing was calling Cook so that he could come pick me up and just take me somewhere far away from there…but when I did, he did not answer" _

_"He was in Glasgow" _

_"I am not sure, I guess he must've been travelling there…because he had never NOT answered the phone when I call him…especially that late at night. I called him more than once just in case he hadn't noticed and kept on getting his voicemail and I didn't know what to do because by now I was desperate and I just kept on driving…"_

_"So you decided to call Sophia"_

_"No" Naomi said interrupting Emily. She knew Emily wasn't taking this entire thing well because she could hear it in her voice, the way Emily kept on interrupting her story…almost rushing her to get to end as if she was a person standing there waiting for someone to hit them with a bat straight in the face...the anticipation was killing her. _

_"I just drove on through until I found a decent-looking place to get a drink…by then I needed something to calm me down because I had been very drunk already when I left home, but by then I was sobering up and all that had happened was starting to eat me up from the insides again. I felt like I was bleeding internally or something...like I was about to die."_

_Emily stayed quiet at that statement because she knew the state that Naomi had left in after their fight, she had been so worried and in such pain at watching her walk away without looking back and seeing that no matter how much Emily yelled at her to stay…Naomi wasn't responding. She'd gone to the dark side. _

_"So I went in…and drank and drank…and drank some more. I used up all the money in my purse and then gave the barkeeper my card and told him to keep them coming nonstop. All I kept on doing was looking at my phone ring once and twice and a million times, your name over and over again…I had to keep on hitting the ignore button and it was all driving me insane. You didn't even let me a chance of calling Cook anymore…I was so drunk that I could hardly look through my contacts to dial him up and every time I did, you'd call once again and I'd hang up or ignore…so finally I did something really stupid."_

_"What?" Emily said a bit worried. _

_"I threw my phone against one of the walls of the place out of pure anger and it hit some bottles that fell on some people's clothes and then all of a sudden there were a few people coming at me pulling me and pushing me, one girl grabbed at my hair until finally I felt someone take a hold of me by the arm and pull me out and grab a hold of me and hug me...when I opened my eyes I was surprised to see who it was...it was her...Sophia"_

"How come I don't get a morning hug? And then she says I am your favorite mum" Naomi said as she opened her eyes and found her ex-wife and their son in an embrace.

"Oi" Emily said looking back and smiling at her. "I never said you were his favorite mum…"

"Did too…you've said it millions of times."

"I've said that he prefers you, but only because you always give him whatever the heck he wants"

"You guys know I am still here, don't you?" Liam said looking up behind toward Naomi who was smiling gleefully at him.

"Yes, yet somehow I still haven't been hugged…that's just a sign that I am _not_ your fav-" Before she could finish that sentence Liam moved swiftly over on the bed, with Emily still in his embrace and pushed them both over into Naomi's arms.

"See, now everyone gets a morning hug…happy now?"

Naomi smiled as she moved closer to both Emily and Liam and held them even tighter.

"Very much so"

_"Well that was a happy coincidence" Emily said standing up at bit furious at what Naomi was retelling. She wanted to believe all that Naomi was saying but for some reason she found it extremely convenient that Naomi had driven right into a place where Sophia Moore was without knowing she'd be there. She didn't even know what to think. _

_"Not happy, not a coincidence…Em, she had been stalking me. She always had…I just didn't know the extent of it until that very night."_

_Even if Emily did not believe her, even if it seemed completely made up…Sophia was in fact, stalking Naomi for quite a while. Even though it had been a few years now since that kiss they'd shared together, Sophia had not been able to forget about the blonde and had the bad habit of following her every time she'd go anywhere without Emily. _

_And during those last few months, thankfully for Sophia, she'd gotten more than just a few chances at following Naomi everywhere she went. Ever since the blonde had found out about the birth certificate, Naomi and Emily's relationship had started to deteriorate and then Naomi had started to drink heavily, both during the day and at night…and Sophia knew that. For her, watching Naomi alone…obviously having issues with her wife was a heaven sent. She knew that if she just waited it out she'd be there just in time to rescue her blonde-haired love from it all. And luckily for her, that day had finally come. _

_"So she rescued you…and then you slept with her as a thanksgiving?"_

_"Nouuuu" Naomi said a bit upset at Emily's words. She knew that she's fucked up major but she was trying to explain it all to Emily as best as she could…she hated when Emily got this way…when she didn't listen. _

_She hated when she did that because she was sure that if Emily had listened to any of her complains, if she had been listening to all that was happening instead of gallivanting around town with her happy-little assistant she may have noticed what was really happening with them. _

_Naomi, of course wasn't gonna say anything. At first, when she'd found out about the birth certificate she had promised that she was gonna let Emily come to her with the truth because she was almost 100% sure that this had to be something new and that Emily had just forgotten or was getting ready to tell her very soon. But as time passed, Emily's silence…Emily's lack of communication made things worse and worse in Naomi's head. _

_Every single day that passed where Emily didn't mention anything about the birth certificate was a log that fueled that fire that was eating her up from the insides. That rage, the fear, the sorrow of being lied to by Emily…of her now questioning whether each and every word that her wife was saying were the truth was making things worse and worse…it was destroying Naomi completely. _

_"I can't tell you exactly how it was that it happened because I was very drunk…so I have some moments that I can't recall too well but I do remember us being in a hotel room…I can't remember why we were there and we'd gotten there, but I do remember me kissing her…"_

_"You kissed her" Emily repeated furiously. _

_"Yes…I kissed her and she was kissing me back and we were taking each other's clothes off and I was crying…I remember myself crying so much and pushing her away...I suddenly realized what I was doing, but for some reason I tried pushing her off but she wouldn't budge...and then…"_

_"Then what?"_

_"I threw up on her…"_

"Oh that is absolutely disgusting" Naomi said as she took off the bandage off her son's head for a bit and was gonna poke at it before Emily shooed her hand away.

"Don't do that, you have to wash your hands…don't be disgusting"

"Does it look really bad?" Liam said as Emily bandaged him back up and then he turned around.

"I think it looks a little better than it did in the hospital."

"I still think it looks disgusting…all that stuff makes me wanna gag…I swear I am feeling dizzy just thinking about it" Naomi said making a face.

"You always come up with that excuse just so that you don't have to deal with gross stuff, but this time I am not having it" Emily said turning around and placing both her hands on Naomi's cheeks. Naomi looked down at her and smiled and they looked at each other for way too long…long enough for Liam to intercede.

"Still here" Liam said a bit annoyed, though still kinda happy at what he was seeing.

"We know" Emily said looking back at her son and then laughing.

"Right, well let me know before you start having happy mummy time in front of me…I've been traumatized enough as it is but this…"

_Naomi and Emily had already been back from Bahamas a week, yet for some reason they hadn't been able to keep their hands off each other. And at first it had all been fine since Cook had taken Liam and his brother Paddy on a road trip to see their mum right after that so the girls had their days at home without Liam for a bit. But that night, the night had come back so exhausted that Cook himself had to carry him to his bedroom and set him on the bed and then gone home. _

_After verifying that their boy was fast asleep his mummies had taken advantage of their alone time…yet again…and were well into some passionate lovemaking when suddenly…_

_"What are you guys doing?" _

_"Liam!" Emily was completely frightened his voice that she took whatever she could find on the bed and covered herself and Naomi up immediately. She was so embarrassed she could hardly look at him. _

_"Hey mate, what are you doing up?" Naomi asked so calmly that even Emily looked up from where she had hidden her face (behind Naomi's neck) to look at her. _

_"I just wanted something to drink…I am thirsty…why aren't you wearing your pyjamas…aren't you two cold?"_

_Emily pressed her eyes so tightly from the nerves while Naomi held on to her and kept on talking to their son._

_"We aren't too cold because we just came back from a really warm and beautiful place called the Bahamas for our wedding trip…"_

_"Oh" Liam answered still a bit confused…"Why didn't you take me with you? I missed you guys"_

_"We missed you too" Naomi said moving a bit so that her son could sit next to them on the bed. Meanwhile Emily tried to cover herself up all the way up to her neck and stayed quiet, still in awe at how calm Naomi was about this entire thing. "But we couldn't take you this time because me and your mum, we needed to have happy mummy time together."_

_"Is that what you were having before I came in?" Liam said in a sort of a whisper and Naomi chuckled at how smart her son was, even for his own age. _

_"That's exactly what we were having" She said as she took him by the face and planted a kiss on his forehead. "Are you still thirsty?"_

_Liam nodded and then looked over at Emily who had turned red as a tomato from the embarrassment of it all. He had never caught them doing anything and her parents were always so closed off about all these things that she really couldn't understand how it was that Naomi wasn't freaking out about it. _

_"Go on to the kitchen while I put my pyjamas back on and we can get you something to drink, alright?"_

_"Okay" Liam said jumping off his mothers' bed and starting to walk out of the room. "But I think we should bring mama a drink of water too…she looks a little flushed"_

"You don't have to worry about that, son" Naomi said as Emily turned around to face her son. "Friends don't do those type of things"

"Friends?" Liam said a bit confused, he wasn't sure what that even meant.

Emily looked back at Naomi for a second and then looked at her son and started to talk.

"Your mum and I…we've decided it is better if we are just friends for now." Emily said as she looked for a reaction from Liam.

"Just friends?...What does that even mean?"

_"And that's the reason why I found you that way…on the bed and she was without clothes…"_

_"I threw up all over her clothes and she was kind of upset so she took off to the bathroom, I guess to wash them or something and that's when I took a minute and texted Cook so he could come get me…by then I was feeling like pure shit and so I waited on him and waited but then I fell asleep…all I remember after that is you coming into the room yelling and then…"_

_"I punched the living shit out of her" Emily said swinging her fist into the air, almost reliving what she had done. _

_Naomi started to laugh at the thought of it all. It wasn't a funny moment, it was quite possibly the worse moment of her entire life but as thought back to it…watching short, skinny, little Emily take punch at the tall, well built, almost amazonic-looking Sophia who had been in the armed forces right after college was not just incredibly amusing but also so amazing…such an "Emily" moment that all Naomi could do was just laugh. _

_"Why are you laughing at?" Emily said a bit upset. _

_"You punched the living shit out of her, baby" Naomi answers, still laughing in her chair._

_"Yea, I did" Emily said now starting to laugh as she watched he ex-wife laughing so cheerfully that only watching her made her happy._

_"I wish we could always laugh this way all the time…I wish things weren't so complicated, you know" Emily said after quite a bit of laughing alongside Naomi. "If only it was all just this easy" _

_"It could be, if you want…" Naomi said stopping, suddenly getting more serious. _

_"Naomi, you know that I still have fears…I am still not sure…" _

_"I know" Naomi said taking Emily's hand in hers. "I know that you still need your time to process this whole thing…and I wanna give it to you. Don't think I don't need it…I do too. I just…"_

_"What?"_

_"I just wish we could just be friendly with one another…I am so tired, Ems…I am tired of all this fighting, of all this contempt that's just hurting us and it's hurting Liam and everyone around us."_

_"I know" Emily said looking down the floor._

_"Don't feel bad about it…just…let's fix it. Let's try to at least be civil...let's try to be friends."_

_"Friends?...But Naoms, we've never really BEEN friends…we've been together since the day we met."_

_"See that's my point...maybe we need to have that with each other. Let things happen at their own pace…not push anything…"_

_"So just friends, then?" _

_"Just friends…" Naomi said moving close to Emily. _

_Emily moved closer to her and brushed her cheek with the back of her right hand and smiled. "You think we've be able to do that?"_

_"I think I can do anything and as long as you're with me I can be anything you need me to be."_

* * *

_**Post-Script: So...do you think they can be friends? Can exes be friends? Let me know in your reviews...have a good friends my lovelies...see you soon! Thanks for reading! :) **_


	26. Chapter 26

_**So I am gonna try to update as much as I can when it's possible because I know my chapters are quite short and I don't wanna leave you all hanging...hope you don't mind. :P **  
_

_**About this chapter I don't have much to say, just thanks again for reading/commenting/following and let me know your thoughts about it. **_

_**Not beta'd, all belongs to Skins...number 26...**_

* * *

_26_

_Back beat, the word is on the street that the fire in your heart is out…_

James Fitch wasn't much of musician, but he was an avid fan of all kinds of music so that morning when he walked back into his parents' home (after spending some time with his girlfriend Bridget at her house in Edinburgh) and he heard his nephew sitting on the floor with his guitar in his hand soulfully playing and singing this old song he'd heard so many times before, for some reason his heart quivered a bit.

_I'm sure you've heard it all before but you never really had a doubt…_

He hadn't actually ever heard him before, he didn't even know that Liam even played the guitar. Truth be told he didn't know too much about his family because he was so well dedicated to his job, to the war efforts and to his own life that he had gotten a bit lost from all of them and hadn't really been there when everything was sort of going wrong with them.

_I don't believe that anybody feels the way I do about you now…_

Still, even though he'd been far he still loved his nephew as much as he loved the rest of the family. So hearing Liam playing this song, so slowly, so sadly, as if each word was killing him on the inside really hurt James. He needed to find out what was going on.

"You're missing that change from e minor to g, bruv" James said to his nephew as she sat, with his legs cross right in front of him and smiled a bit.

Liam hardly looked at him; he moved his left hand a bit on the guitar and then tried to play the chords again without saying anything to his uncle.

"You know what it is, the change is on an upbeat…that'd happen to me too…I remember Naomi always yelling at me about it…she's a bit anal when it comes to this song for some reason.

Liam looked up at James and smiled at him and James smiled back and then rubbed his nephew's shoulder a bit.

"Give it here, let me try to see if I can show you what you're doing." He moved over some and took the guitar from Liam and then started to strum through it a bit to warm up.

"Did mum teach you to play?" Liam asked his uncle after quietly watching him play for a bit.

"Some, not much though…she wasn't very fond of me back then because she insisted I would always end up perving at her tits…so the lesson would start very well but it would end up with her punching me while Emily tried to defend me from her.

Liam laughed out loud at the thought of it all.

"Was she right?" Liam inquired while still smiling at hearing his uncle talk.

"About the perving? Hell yea…She's well fit…"

"Hey…watch it" Liam pointed his finger at James half-smiling at what he was saying.

"Right, like you can kick my arse?" James said pushing his young nephew a bit and then continuing to play.

"What you should do is tell me why it is you're so down." James said before Liam could get a word in.

"I am not" Liam said looking down on the floor, about to lie to him…but he just couldn't. It was always really hard for him to lie. "Fine, I am…I am having some…um…_girl_ problems"

"Is it Abby?" James asked him, remembering how they'd spend quite a bit of their night before the accident playing video games and discussing his nephew's girlfriend.

"No" Liam looked up shyly at him almost unsure what he was about to say. He knew he needed some help with what was going on, but he always had made a promise not to worry too much about…so he needed to be as careful about this as he possibly could.

"So it's another girl, then?" James said smiling cheekily; thinking that no matter how much Emily and Naomi wanted to paint Liam as a good boy, he was definitely had the bad boy Fitch gene in him.

"It's two of them" Liam went on to say, before James interrupted.

"Two?" James questioned, astonished at his nephew's confession. "You dog!"

James stopped playing and laughed amused at the thought.

"I kinda wish your uncle Cook was here to hear this…he'd be so proud" He said making a crying motion with his hands, landing a punch from Liam who hated when his uncle James teased him so much.

"Stop it…I am being serious" Liam answered and started to get up from the floor, but James stopped.

"Sorry, I know…I know you're serious. I just love to tease ya…now tell me….what's the problem?"

_"__I don't see what the problem is with all of this Liam, us being friends is a good thing"_

_"__No it isn't" Liam said getting up off the bed that he had been sharing with both his mums. "I saw this happen to Andrew and Ricky…with their parents. Being friends isn't you guys getting back together. Being friends means you don't yell at each other in front of me…that's not what's supposed to happen!" _

_Before Emily or Naomi could do anything, Liam started to storm out of the bedroom they had been sharing. For some reason, when they had talked about this entire thing they were sure Liam was gonna take the news that they were at least being friendly as a good thing. _

_But as Liam had watched the way they were acting toward each other the entire weekend, he was more than convinced that they were just steps from getting back together. He knew that they had to, that if they didn't this thing wasn't gonna work and then maybe in a few months his mama would end up moving in with that dreadful Mandy woman and his mum would be too sad to take it all and maybe she'd go back to drinking or she'd go away, like she had done when she left to New York for so many weeks. It was awful, it was horrible…it was the worst thing that could ever happen and wasn't gonna allow it to happen. He needed to do something about it…but what?"_

"I don't get it" James said, interrupting the cockamamie story that his nephew was trying to run by him. He wasn't make sense, at least according to James…or maybe he wasn't following him correctly…or maybe…just maybe….Liam was trying to lie. Maybe this whole story about having trouble with two girls was an excuse with something else.

"What don't you get?" Liam said stopping and looking straight at his uncle.

"So you tell me that you want to be with the girl because you love her and you know she loves you but bad things happened between you so now all you do is fight but she wants you to be friends with her…but you don't wanna be friends and you say you wanna convince her to not be friends…but what does that have to do with two girls?"

"It…um…I just…" Liam tried to come up with something, but he definitely was crap at lying…no matter to whom.

"Liam, what's this about?…you're not telling me something…"

"It's not two girls…" He said a bit upset. "Well, it is two girls but I have nothing to do with it…or maybe I do but…"

"Liam…"

"It's my mums okay…they are being stupid and they made me promise I was gonna be okay with it but I am fucking okay…I am tired of this shit!"

"Hey…okay…alright…" James said as he placed the guitar down on the floor and scooted over toward his nephew. "Calm down and tell me why they are being stupid, and maybe we could figure something out."

_"__Liam, get back here" Naomi said before her son walked out the door. "Immediately" _

_Liam stopped short because it was very unusual for her to yell at him at all. He'd always gotten away with everything when she was in charge so for her to yell at him that way mean she really wasn't playing around. She was being serious and he was in big trouble if he didn't abide. So he turned around, still complaining a bit through his teeth and walked over to a chair that was nearby the bed and sat down. _

_Naomi hated yelling at him and she was so upset by his attitude that she had to take a minute to breathe before she felt Emily approach her and put her hand on her shoulder. She looked at her and then back at her son who was facing the floor and then they both approached him. _

_"__You remember what happened the last time you stormed out because you were pissed off that your mum and I aren't getting back together like you want us to…"_

_"__I got into the accident…" _

_"__That's right" Naomi answered while she looked down at him. She hated being hard on him so seeing him like this was killing her, but despite it all she knew that she had to go on with what she was gonna say. She was only trying to do the best for him. _

_"__Look, I know you would like for things to be different than they are." She said as she knelt down in front of him with Emily right by her side. "But right now this is what's going on and you've gotta accept it."_

_"__I just…" He said before his voice cracked, his other mum who was standing next to Naomi caressing her shoulder for support moved over to the arm of the chair and sat down next to him. _

_"…__I want you guys to be together. I know you love each other…I just wanna be a family again."_

_"__We know" Emily said as she caressed his neck with her fingers. "We know that you would like us to get back together immediately, but right now your mum and I have some things to sort out…okay?"_

_Liam didn't say anything back, he was still a bit furious at the fact things weren't going the way he'd envisioned them hours prior. _

_"__Liam, this doesn't mean that we aren't gonna get back together" Emily said as both Naomi and Liam looked back at her rapidly. _

_"__No?" He answered a bit confused. _

_"__It means that we don't know what's gonna happen but we also don't want you…or any of us to suffer anymore than we have to. Do you understand?"_

_Liam nodded though he really did not fully understand what their mother's meant to do with all this. _

_"__All we want right now is for you not to worry too much about it…you need to be calm, get well, be happy and have a good time here in Glasgow and meanwhile, when your mum and I have made a decision what we are gonna do…you will be the first one to know, okay?"_

"So they are gonna be friends, then?" James repeated what Liam had just told him about his mums new arrangement. "That doesn't sound too bad…isn't that better than all the fighting that was going on before?"

"No" Liam said rapidly. "It's the same, except now there's no fighting. Now they are just gonna pretend all is fine and meanwhile they are gonna sign that stupid divorce when we are back to Bristol and that stupid Mandy woman…"

"What Mandy woman?" James inquired.

"Her assistant, that bitch…she dating my mum"

"What?" James hadn't know about Emily dating Mandy, Katie hadn't told him any of that. He knew that they were divorcing and that things were bad but he didn't know they were bad enough for Emily to leave Naomi for someone else. Now he was really starting to worry.

"She spends all day with her…I can't stand her. She hates me too…"

"Mandy hates you?"

"Yea, she does anything she possibly can so that mama spends all day with her…like I don't even get a minute and then they don't even let me call mummy to pick me up. She's always talking shit about mummy…I've caught her telling her bad things, things are lies…filling her head with stories. I just…I don't wanna go back to that. We are fine here now, but when we leave Glasgow this is all gonna go to shit."

James sighed, he now understood why it was that Liam was so upset about this whole thing. Though he never lived through a divorce, since his parents hardly ever fought in front of them…he could still recall that one time when he was about his nephew's age and his dad gym had almost gone bankrupt. How all his parents did was fight and his mum even threatned to leave him. James had suffered so much during that time…the least he wanted was for his nephew to have to live through that.

"We gotta do something" He said very determined.

"Yea, I know we do" Liam answered him, taking the guitar back into his hands and starting to play the chords he was playing before. "But what?"

"I don't know…we need some sort of master plan…something that will make sure these two get back together before the wedding vow ceremony...we can't let them go back to Bristol"

"Right, well…I haven't got a clue what to do. I have done all I could do. I am not very good at devious manipulation apparently" Liam said a bit disillusioned.

"Yea well, I am usually a bit null at all this kind of stuff too…so I don't even know where we would start..." James scratching the back of his head just a bit.

"Oh…wait…I know who could help us!" He finally said while smiling.

"Who?" Liam said while he looked back at him.

"The queen of all that devious and wrong…Katie Fucking Fitch."

"Do you think she'd help us out?"


	27. Chapter 27

_**Glad everyone is still liking it, trying to update when I can and this weekend I was pretty lose and free so I thought I'd indulge you since these are short. Thanks for reading! Lemme know what you think. **_

_**Anyway, hope you enjoy...number 27...**__**Characters are owned by Skins, I own all the typos. Thanks for reading.**_

* * *

_27_

"Jesus, I thought he'd never leave"

Naomi had been fighting the urge to take her ex-wife into her arms and kiss her senselessly ever since she'd woken up that morning, but now as Emily closed the door of the room they'd shared the night before, the blonde couldn't take a minute longer and she almost ran the few steps that were separating them and crashed her lips into the redhead's with utter desperation.

"I've been dying to kiss you since I woke up this morning" She said as she moved her hands down her ex-wife's hips and grabbed her bottom while Emily's arms encircled her neck, propping herself up a big against the door.

"I feel so bad about doing this to him" Emily said while she remained kissing Naomi with desperation, as if each one of those kisses was her very last. As if it had been a million years since the last time she'd kissed her and she wanted to make up for lost time.

With a bit of force Naomi pulled Emily up by her waist, the redhead's legs encircling around her ex-wife's torso, she looked back a second and made sure the door was locked and then walked over to the bed and fell upon it with a swift motion. "I can't believe we just lied to our son."

"We can stop if you want to" Naomi said looking up at Emily who had both her arms and legs encircled around the blonde. Naomi was lost in her, lost in the smell, the taste, the warmth of the petite body that lay underneath her. But even though she wanted nothing more than to stay the way she was, with her Emily so close to her...though she hated to even think about having to let her go, she also wanted to show her she was serious about what they'd talk. That she was willing to do anything. "There's no pressure baby, I told you last night we go at your pace…whatever you want, whatever you need I am willing to do it."

"What about what you want?" Emily said as she caressed Naomi's face with her hands.

"You and him and me together for the rest of our lives…that is all I want"

Emily smiled as she brushed Naomi's bottom lip with the thumb before she kissed her again. Her beautiful blue eyes stared back at her with such joy that it pained her to think she could ever survive a single moment without being able to look at them. And even though she had her there, she was feeling her, touching her, smelling her...she still couldn't believe what was going on, she still couldn't believe how happy she felt right now…she still couldn't believe any of this was actually even happening. She felt like she had died and gone to heaven.

_"__I think I can do anything…as long as you're here with me I can be anything you need me to be."_

_Naomi half-smiled at Emily who was still standing in front of her and then brushed her hand against Emily's cheek, making the brunette close her eyes at the touch. She sat back down on the chair and looked down at the floor for a second, trying hard not to cry. Having to remain friends with her was gonna be tough, but if Emily wasn't ready she wasn't gonna push her. She knew she needed to be strong if this being friends thing was gonna work, but right now she truly felt once again that she'd do anything…as long as Emily gave them one more chance. It didn't matter how hard this was gonna be, she needed to have her back. _

_"__I need you to be mine again" Emily's words escaped straight from her heart, she'd been holding on to them for way too long. She'd been scared of telling her the things Naomi would easily tell her at each and every other minute of their entire life with her words, her actions, her kisses…and she missed that too much to hold back. She needed it back, she needed her back. She was sure that everything she wanted right now was for Naomi never to leave her, ever again. _

_"__What?" Naomi looked up bit scared of what she heard, almost as if maybe she was hearing things. _

_"__I said…" Emily moved closer and placed her hands on her ex-wife's cheeks and looked down into her crystal blue eyes. _

_"I can't be friends with you" She said, smiling "I don't wanna be just friends…I need to be with you...I want you to be with me."_

_The surge of feelings that enveloped Naomi as she heard Emily say that were overflowing. She wasn't even sure whether she was dreaming or if she was awake._

I must be dreaming.

_At seeing Naomi was almost unable to react, Emily moved closer to her, her legs parted a bit, she stood right between her ex's legs and kissed her softly before straddling her. "I've missed you so much, baby…I don't wanna be apart anymore." _

_Naomi sighed at the emotive confession, her hands moving up Emily's legs, the tips of her fingers brushing against her skin as if it was the very first time she'd touched her. Her hands were trembling, her entire body still trying to react to what she was hearing, what she was feeling as Emily remained kissing her….once and twice and a million more times; neither of them wanting this to ever stop. _

_"__I love you so much" Naomi was finally able to stay as she felt Emily's thumbs wiping tears that fell down her eyes indiscriminately. Her voice was filled with such emotion that could do nothing more than kiss her again and again, like making up for each one of the kisses she owed her. _

_"__I miss you…I've missed you, baby" Naomi went on, feeling her ex-wife's kisses all over her face, her eyes, her cheeks, her lips…anywhere that Emily could kiss, she did…anywhere and everywhere she'd missed all those days…those 438 days that she was without her. She couldn't believe she'd lasted that long being apart. _

_Naomi closed her eyes and took her into her arms and just felt her for a minute. The joy of having Emily back in her arms drowning out that hole she'd been feeling inside of her ever since she'd left. That night that Emily had thrown her out of their house, Naomi's heart was so broken that her very insides felt numb from sheer pain. Now all that pain was gone, she felt life itself ooze back into her and she smiled...a true, real, genuine smile as if she'd just found out she's been given another chance at life. As if she had been born again. _

_"I don't know how I've survived without you" Naomi said before starting to cry once again. Emily kissed her eyes and whipped her tears and then held her tightly before starting to kiss her once again. _

_Naomi closed her eyes one more time as she felt Emily's hands sweetly grazing her face. She smiled back at her, her hands moving up Emily's torso underneath her shirt. She opened her eyes and smiled and then kissed the side of Emily's belly softly, making the redhead moan with excitement. "I've missed you so much. I never want this to stop."_

"_Do_ you want us to stop?" Naomi asked once again, making sure that Emily was comfortable with this whole arrangement. She knew how apprehensive Emily'd been about having to lie to Liam and everyone else about them being together.

"No, I just can't help but feeling wrong about this." Emily said as she pulled her ex close her to, their foreheads touching slightly as they spoke. "I don't want him to feel betrayed if he finds out about this."

"I know" Naomi said kissing Emily's cheek very tenderly. Ever since the night before she hadn't stopped wanting to kiss her every minute that she could. Having her back this way was the only thing she'd wanted ever since they'd broken apart, so what she was about to say was gonna be really hard. It was gonna be devastating to have to endure it, but she'd do it for her…for them. She'd do whatever was necessary. "We could go back to that idea of being friends, if you want."

Emily thought about it for a minute, she knew that not telling Liam about it was the right thing…she knew that within both her and Naomi there were still problems, deep-seethed issues of trust and control and even jealousy that weren't gonna be resolved by simply kissing and being together.

They'd discussed it at length; they'd spent the whole night talking about it while entangled in each other, much like they were right now. Talking, discussing, coming up with what they should do while they were that close was wonderful but it was also dangerous. Because they missed each other so much, their vision of reality was blurred by their desperation to be together. But they couldn't forget that being together involved more than just them two. Being together also involved the only other person they loved just as much as they loved each other. That person whose fragile heart was on the line. The person that neither of them was willing to let down.

_"__Did you want something babes?"_

_Katie was in her room getting Hanna all ready for breakfast, when she saw her nephew Liam open the door and walk in and sit down quietly on the bed while he watched her. _

_"__I..um…there's something I needed to talk to you about" Liam said shyly. He wasn't sure how he was gonna approach this entire thing with his aunt Katie because he knew she'd turned him down once before. But after having that talk with his uncle James, they were both convinced that if Katie cooperated with them they would be able to do something…anything to get his parents to realize what a mistake they were making. _

_Liam wanted them to be together, and this wasn't about him…it wasn't even about the possibility of having to deal with Mandy at his house every single day. It was about them. He knew that they didn't have many more chances like this, to be alone together, to be with one another. This could quite possibly be their last chance to realize the mistake they were making before signing that divorce. So Liam was gonna try it, at least that one last time. _

_"__What is it? Is there something wrong? Is it your head?" Katie said, moving closer to him to inspect his bandaged wound. _

_"__My head is fine, Aunt Kay…I…um…there's something that I needed to ask you. Kind of a favor, I guess…but I don't know how or if you'd wanna do it because last time you told me that this was none of my business and that I shouldn't get involved but I don't think I can stay quiet about it."_

_Katie scratched her head because she wasn't sure she was following what Liam was trying to say. He looked so nervous and he wasn't exactly explaining himself well. So she finished dressing Hanna and then took her into her arms and sat next to him. _

_"__Stay quiet about what, babes? I am not following what you're trying to ask me." _

_"__About my mums, Aunt Kay…Uncle James says that maybe if you, him and I get together...like if we put our minds together maybe we could come up with a plan that will make them fall back in love…or rather…realize they're still in love and not sign that stupid divorce when we get back home to Bristol."_

_Katie pressed her lips in anger and shook her head at thinking that she owed James one of her infamous ear-pulls…the kind she used to use to get him to obey her or Emily when they were kids. _

_"__I know that you love the guy, but your Uncle James is a right tosser, Liam…" Katie said a bit furious. "Where is he? Is he downstairs?"_

_"__He went back to bed because he is driving back to Edinburgh this afternoon to meet Bridget again…but he says that once he's back we can execute whatever plan you come up with. He says you're a genius at coming up with plans. He thinks you may have even had your hands on the idea of us three coming up this weekend for my grandparent's wedding vow ceremony…like you came up with it somehow."_

_Katie tried not to smile, though she knew deep inside that James was right. She had been the one that had orchestrated this entire plan of them coming to Glasgow before signing the papers. But if she was truthful, she couldn't take all the glory for that…after all, this plan hadn't been her own idea. It had been Cook's. _

_After Liam had gone to see Katie crying because of all that was going on with his mum's, Katie gone to visit her husband in prison and discussed everything that had happened. _

_As soon as Cook heard what was going on, he told Katie what he had discussed with Naomi a week before when she had come back from New York. Apparently, the non-profit that Naomi had been working with was offering a permanent job in the states and they had given her a few weeks to make the decision. This whole confession worried Cook very much as the least he wanted was for his best mate to move so far away from all of them. _

_He'd seen all that had happened unfold without being able to do much about it. That same weekend when Emily had discovered Naomi and Sophia in the hotel, Cook had gone up to Glasgow to discuss what he had been doing with Rob. He'd confessed that the 'investments in the stock market' that was making him so much money was actually a money-laundering scheme (that Effy had gotten him involved in, though nobody but Cook knew that) and that he was about to get caught. Effy had threatened to give him up if he decided to go back with his wife and leave her. Cook and Effy had been having an on and off affair that had lasted years and he hated himself for it. He knew he loved Katie, he really did...but there was something about Effy that kept on entangling him back in. She was dangerous, she was carefree...she was all that he once had been with her back in this college days and though he had the perfect life...the perfect wife, the perfect family he couldn't let that part of his life go. Until Hanna came along and changed all that. _

_So when him and Katie had finally gotten Hanna, he knew he had to stop what he was doing. He had to cut Effy off completely. He didn't care if that meant having to go jail for it. __And though he didn't want to go to jail because he knew that this would affect his family way too much, this was the only way to break this vicious circle of lies and betrayal he'd been involved in because of Effy. _

_Now his stupidity, his inability to handle Effy landed him in jail, apart from his family and with the potential of losing the only other person he loved just as dearly as he loved Katie and Hanna…the person he saw as the sister he never had, his best mate Naomi. _

_So Cook and Katie had come up with that plan, their last chance to get Emily and Naomi (and Liam) back together, near family, where they could possibly realize the mistake they were making before it was too late. _

_ "__I am not gonna lie…I did have something to do with convincing them both they needed to come here" she confessed, still unsure of why. _

_"__See!" Liam said a bit excited. "It's true…you are the master of plans. Aunt Katie, please…I beg you…you don't ever have to give me a Christmas or birthday present ever again…but please give me this. I want them to be together. You're the only one that can help. Please say yes."_

_Katie rolled her eyes, sighed and then placed her daughter in the playpen nearby where they'd been talking. _

_"__Fine" She said a bit frustrated. "Let's go wake up your worm of an uncle…if we're gonna get these back together before next week he can't flake out on us, like he always does."_

_"__Oh, Aunt Katie…you're the queen" Liam said pulling his aunt by the waist and hugging her. _

_Katie smiled and hoped that what they were about to do wasn't gonna go fuck things up even worse. _

_"__I know...I AM the queen."_


	28. Chapter 28

_**I am fluffy by nature, at least that's what some people seem to think. I have been wanting to write this chapter for the past few days but it's really really hard for me to write any proper smut. I am nothing compared to the pros of smut (Lizzie and garden, I am looking your way.) This is literally all that I could write without it sounding out of place, for some reason. I don't even know why. **__**So I guess you can say chapter 28 is my very pathetic attempt at writing smut that is really more fluff than anything else. Hope you don't mind the cheesiness...especially the last line. It's cheesier than a Frenchman's pantry.**_

_**Anywho, thanks for kindly reviewing and following my story. I am still in awe when I look at my stats and see that so many people still follow and read even after I don't post for so many days. I am hoping to start to post more than just once or twice a week soon. Crossing-fingers. **_

_**Like always, no beta present...characters belong to Skins, Liam is mine (and Naomily's...of course) and here we are...chapter 28...a por ello. **_

* * *

_28_

The love that Naomi Campbell and Emily Fitch shared had always been one beyond time itself. And it didn't matter how many years had gone by, how much they knew each other inside and out that one night they were sharing, that night that seemed to have happened but pure coincidence was the most amazing night of all, even more than the first time they were together…even more than any other night in any other time in their lives. It was the night the both realized what they had was true love…because only true love survives even after it's been beaten, trashed and destroyed beyond repair.

With her heart filled with emotion and lust and longing Naomi stood up off the chair she'd been sitting on with Emily on top of her and took her in her arms. The sudden movement made the petite girl shriek a bit and Naomi smiled and held her tighter while she allowed her ex-wife to remain kissing her.

She walked over a few steps while Emily held on to her neck tightly and she knelt on the bed and then slowly laid the brunette on it as she slowly fell on top of her. She kissed her gently while Emily grazed her face with her fingers, before Naomi looked at her.

"Hi" said Naomi with a soft smile full of complete adoration for those coffee-colored orbs that stared back at her.

"Hi" Emily answered; the joy clearly visible in her eyes.

She hadn't felt so happy in such a long time; she was so emotional at the moment that she almost felt like crying and laughing all at the same time. It was just like that first time they'd been together, that first time Emily's 'stomach' started to feel better and they had been able to be with each other like they had wanted ever since they had met.

_"__I am back and I've brought loads of ammunition…we are gonna get rid of that darn stomach bug today!" Naomi said as she opened the door to Emily's flat with bags in her hands. Ever since that first night they had met Emily had been quite sick to her stomach and had hardly been able to keep anything down. _

_So even though they'd enjoyed their time together (because they certainly couldn't possibly be without one another), physically they hadn't been able to go beyond a few ardent snogging sessions before Naomi had stopped them in fear that Emily's stomach could strike back and she'd be sick again. _

_After a few days of Naomi staying over every night and waking up to her new redheaded 'friend' Emily had ran out of groceries and Naomi had offered to go down to the market and pick up some things, including some really awful-sounding Chinese ingredients for a miracle soup that her mother Gina had insisted she'd cook for Emily to settle her stomach. _

_Lost in her head, as she always was Naomi opened the door to Emily's flat and turned around to close it and then she heard her voice. _

_"__What took you so long?" Emily said in a bit of a husky voice, something that made Naomi curve her eyebrow and turn around immediately. _

_When she did, she saw something she wasn't expecting. Emily was wearing a crème-colored satin babydoll mingled with black lace and a matching thong that peaked from its open front. She was leaning up against the wall, with a cheeky smile on her face just watching her. _

_"__Jesus bloody Christ on a unicycle" she said, dropping the bags to the floor as she looked at Emily who bit the side of her upper lip to prevent laughing. The face Naomi had was one even she hadn't expected as she had planned this entire little 'surprise' when she had gone out shopping with Katie the day before while Naomi was at her mother's learning to make the miracle soup. _

That first night they'd spent with each other had been incredible, so much so that Emily was certain that the way Naomi watched her with such wonder was the moment Emily had fallen in love with her. That night had been the night they'd definitely fallen in love but this night…this new night, this chance at a new beginning was a million times more wondrous.

As Naomi unbuttoned Emily's shirt completely and then moved a bit and kissed her shoulder, allowing the strap of her brassier swiftly fall while cupping the fabric-clad breast with her hand. Emily's stomach fluttered with delight at watching the way Naomi admired each and every inch of her, as if it was the first time. Her hand immediately moving a strand of long dirty-blonde hair from Naomi's face and tucking it behind her ear.

Naomi's sweet kisses felt as if they were scorching Emily's skin. The way she descended smoothly against her body, kissing her, touching her, removing at any doubt that clogged Emily's mind right before then. It was all so beautiful, too beautiful for anyone else but Naomi and Emily to understand. Being together, at any and all times in their lives had always been this filled with passion and pure want. It had always been tender even when it was rough, it had always been loving even when it was fiery...it was always been marvelous, it was the place where the mundane met and indescribable world of wonder. The way the loved each other was always that thing that turned all natural things, good or bad into something beyond this world. A world full of wonder.

Without much effort from either one they found themselves stripped from all else, wrapped around each other, limb to limb, skin to skin, just sharing their love for one another.

As Naomi remained kissing each and ever single piece of her, Emily felt that overwhelming freedom that she always felt when she was in Naomi's arms. It was like when they were together anything was possible, and it really truly was because despite all the pain of the last months all was better, all was wonderful, all was like heaven when Naomi and Emily were together making love.

Even in those moments when all they did was lay right next one another on the couch while they each read a book. Even when it was them just eating dinner with Liam, or have drinks with Cook and Katie or even picking up around the house they each knew that all was alright and life was good and suddenly those mundane little things that everyone else took for granted were a world of wonder when they were together.

"Don't ever leave me again" Emily's tear-filled voice came out of nowhere, interrupting their spellbinding closeness.

Naomi looked up from where she was kissing the brunette' neck and captured her gaze immediately. "I've always been here, I've never left"

Emily tried to argue, to point out that in fact Naomi had left her…that she'd freaked out and ran away, that she'd broken apart that trust that they had built for each other since the very first day. But Emily knew that break wasn't Naomi's fault…it wasn't her fault either. It was them both. She knew that neither one had been careful, neither one had treasured that which was so perfect, that love that consumed their entire lives and wrapped around them like a safety-blanket from which neither of them ever wanted to escape.

"I'll never leave you again."

Even though Naomi knew perfectly well that her heart had never left Emily's side, not even for a minute, she wrapped her arms around her and held on to her tightly. She was absolutely certain that she could never survive being apart from her again. She knew that promising to never hurt her was impossible, but she would try her best never to do so. And if she ever did she'd never hesitate on kissing each and every wound that she ever caused her. Even those she didn't cause she'd kiss away without a doubt.

_"__Is he asleep?" _

_Naomi walked right behind her girlfriend who was putting newborn Liam on the crib after long hours of not being able to get him to sleep. She whispered in Emily's ear to make sure she didn't wake him and immediately wrapped her arms around the petite red head who almost felt into her arms in pure relief. _

_"__Yes" Emily answered as she turned her head to the right side to meet Naomi's face and smiled at her. "He's finally asleep" _

_"__Good…" Naomi whispered back "…because I am growing tired of sharing you with him…I am starting to wonder if maybe the hospital will take him back" She said mockingly. _

_She slowly turned her girlfriend around and pulled her over a bit and started to kiss her. Emily held back her laughter as Naomi's hands started to wonder around her nether areas as the blonde nibbled in her ears. _

_"__I already tried" Emily said holding on her girlfriend's waist and kissing her. "They don't take returns, guess we gotta keep him"_

_"__Guess we are stuck with him then" Naomi said looking back to make sure the baby was okay and then adjusted his blanket a bit so be sure he wasn't cold. Liam made a small noise and move over a bit, a faint smile lay on his tiny rose-coloured lips…so similar to Emily's own. _

_"__He looks happy…" Emily said holding on to her girlfriend and placing small kisses on her neck. _

_Naomi smiled and then looked back at Emily who was watching him with such love in her eyes. _

_"__Enough of happy baby time, now we need some happy mummy time…don't you think?" _

_Naomi laughed and moved her girlfriend along with her out of the baby's nursery and toward the door as she started slowly unbuttoning the redhead's trousers and allowing them to fall on the floor. _

_She walked out the door and took Emily into her arms and started to carry her over to her own room. Emily shrieked in surprise and Naomi held her mouth so they wouldn't wake up Liam, almost letting Emily fall on to the floor off of her. They both fell in the bed and laughing and kissing each other from time to time until finally Naomi stopped and looked at Emily intensely. _

_"__You're gorgeous" she said without a single ounce of hesitation. Emily' stomach felt a violent rush of emotion as she watched those clear-blue eyes admiring her. _

_Naomi moved up over on top of her and pulled up her shirt and threw it to one side and then started kissing Emily between her breast and making her way down her body. _

_As Emily felt Naomi move along her body suddenly froze as she felt the tip of Naomi's fingers grace the elastic of some boy-short knickers she'd been wearing under her pants. _

_"__Don't" Emily said a bit upset and then she grabbed on to Naomi's hand and moved away from her. _

_Naomi stopped short as she watched Emily stand up off her bed and start looking for her shirt. She looked at her girlfriend with a confused face, wondering what it was that had just happened. _

_"__I can't…I am sorry" Emily said looking down at the floor, remembering how many times something similar to this had happened in the past few weeks. _

_Naomi sighed, frustrated at what was going on…not because she didn't wanna wait for Emily (she would wait any time she needed) but because this only reminded her that Emily still didn't trust her. Another rejection to add to the numerous times she'd been rejected since Liam was born and this was all of a sudden starting to worry the blue-eyed blonde. What if Emily wasn't interested in her anymore? _

_She stood up off the bed and had to stop herself from walking out in anger and instead went over toward where Emily was sitting on the other side of the bed and knelt in front of her. "You know I'd wait until you need, love…I just wish I knew why it is that you don't let me touch you."_

_Emily sighed unable to look at Naomi in the eyes. She was embarrassed about sharing the real reason why it was she wasn't able to allow Naomi to touch her but she also knew that she could never lie to her girlfriend…she wasn't gonna make up something just to calm her down and she also couldn't keep her in the dark any longer…so she finally decided she needed to come clean as to why. _

_"__I look like shit" she said as she bit her lip and pressed her eyes tightly awaiting Naomi's answer. _

_"__What?" Naomi said confused, she wasn't sure why Emily would say something like that when she couldn't be more wrong. _

_"__I gained 30 lbs with the pregnancy, I am practically a cow" _

_"__My mother raised me in the hindu religion from 1995 to 1998 before she decided to try her luck with __Zoroastrianism__...so I am kinda fond of cows."_

_Naomi tried to joke around with her girlfriend, she knew Emily had been insecure about how much weight she'd gained with the pregnancy…especially because her entire family was such fitness freaks and she'd practically grown up inside of a gym. _

_"__That's not funny" Emily said moving a bit away from Naomi's embrace, but Naomi didn't let her. _

_"__I find you rather sexy with all of these curves…" She said moving her hands underneath Emily's shirt and hugging her curves. _

_"__And then there are these…" She said looking down at her breasts which filled in quite a bit after the pregnancy. "Absolutely divine" _

_Emily didn't wanna smile because she was still upset but she did because Naomi's face when she had said that was just priceless. _

_"__Stop freaking out about what you look like because I've seen it all and I love the way you look…I adore every single piece of you..." Naomi said starting to kiss her girlfriend anywhere she could. _

_"__You haven't' seen this" Emily said moving her shorts a bit to reveal the huge scar she'd gotten with Liam's c-section. _

_Naomi stood there looking at it in silence for a minute, making Emily instantly uncomfortable and even more upset. _

_"__I knew you'd find it revolting…"_

_"__You're beautiful…"Naomi interrupted Emily instantly, not even stopping to acknowledge what she'd say she moved her fingers over the scar and then moved her head down and kissed it. _

After being wrapped around one another for hours non-stop they both felt exhausted but neither wanted to fall asleep as it was all still a bit unbelievable that after all that had happened they were able to find their way back.

Emily lay on her back while Naomi held her in her arms, her fingers tracing along the now almost non-existent scar while she kissed her shoulder lightly.

"You're awful quiet" Emily said moving her hand up to Naomi's cheek and caressing it a bit as Naomi kissed her.

"I am just thinking" Naomi said in a faint voice trying to hide the worry that filled her mind and heart for the past few minutes.

"Are you regretting it?" Emily turned her face to the side to look at Naomi, her gaze instantly filled with worry.

"No…never…I've been dreaming of this for so long. This has all I have wanted since we fell apart."

"So why do you look so worried?" Emily turned around, still the blonde's arms and tried to iron the wrinkles that formed on Naomi's forehead ever time she worried with her thumb.

"I am worried about Liam"

When she Emily heard her son's name she felt her stomach drop and her heart started to beat faster than ever. For the time they'd been making love she'd completely forgotten about him…she'd forgotten about everything and everyone around them since at that moment all that existed was them both. She started to feel a wave of anxiety start to envelop her, drowning out every ounce of happiness she'd been enjoying just minutes prior.

"Liam" she said a bit worried and Naomi pulled her closer and held her tight. They both knew, without having to discuss it, the reasons for their worry. They knew that even though they had made love and they had reconciled and everything seemed so fine and great and wonderful…there were still so many things that needed to be sorted out.

They weren't two young kids that were crazy in love and didn't care about consequences. They were never just them two…Liam had always been there and they had practically broken him apart from all that had happened. They couldn't continue to break him apart.

"He can't know anything about what just happened here..." Emily said as she broke out crying and held on to Naomi for comfort. "He's gonna get his hopes way up and then what if we don't…what if we can't…"

Emily didn't finish the sentence because she could hardly breathe. She felt like all of a sudden she had been kicked right off of heaven right into the burning pits of hell, without knowing why.

"Baby…hey…baby…look at me" Naomi said wiping the tears off her eyes. "I am here…alright?" She kissed Emily again and again, letting each kiss fill her ex-wife with the courage to go on. "We are gonna figure this out…We'll do it together…I am not going anywhere…I am not letting either one of you go…You're the only thing that matters to me, the only thing that keeps me going. You're that thing that keeps m holding on, baby...you're my Wonderwall."

* * *

**Told ya it was cheesy...hope you liked it. Reviews are welcomed. Have a wonderful sunday morning and a great week. See you soon, my peeps! **


	29. Chapter 29

**_Oh, I couldn't be more excited about reading your reviews and seeing more people following and reading my story. You guys are so awesome, I love that you liked my 'smuffy' chapter even if it was a lot more fluffy than anything else. Leave the good smut to the smut queens. (Lizzie, one of my mates says she's been shipping you and g-nomes for quite a bit now so that comment you left made both her and I jump for joy. That was way too funny. Naomily...Keffy...Gnomizzy...It'll become a thing. LOL)_**

**_Anyway, I felt like writing today so I though I'd update. The first part of it is in answer to my buddy Sophie who keeps on asking me what the heck is a Wonderwall. It wasn't a planned bit so maybe it's out of context, but I hope you still enjoy it anyhow. _**

**_So here it is...unbeta'd...characters still belong to Skins, Wonderwall belongs to Oasis, Liam and Hanna are mine and Naomi belongs to Emily...always...on to 29..._**

* * *

_29_

_"__Baby…What's a Wonderwall?" _

_"__I honestly have no idea" Naomi admitted to her girlfriend while they were lying on the couch together on a random night right in the middle of summer. _

_Emily had started to have violent food cravings that usually had Naomi running around all over town looking for them, much to the delight of the blonde who for some odd reason found watching Emily devour her way through all the food she bought her quite cute. _

_"__Why do you ask?" She inquired as she moved her thumb and wiped a bit of sauce that Emily had covering her lips and then licked it. _

_"__Mmmm…that sweet and sour pork IS rather yummy" She said moving over and kissing the little redhead's lips and then licking her own. "Now I know why you two like it so much..."_

_She moved down a bit and stroke Emily's tiny baby bump a bit with her hands and then kissed her belly. _

_"__I don't know…you just sing that song to us all the time and I always wondered." Emily said watching as Naomi was placing small kisses on her belly while she hummed the tune. _

_"__We could look it up, if you want" Naomi said stretching a bit to find her phone, which was charging on the side table right behind the arm of the couch that Emily was up against. _

_"__You done there?" She asked her girlfriend who was still busy trying to extract even the last bit of sweet-and-sour pork left on the white and red food carton. _

_"__Nooouuu" Emily complained as Naomi took the carton away from her and placed it on the table. "I am still hungry" _

_"__Emsy, you're eating for two…not seven…" Naomi said laughing and then moving up a bit to get closer to her girlfriend. She turned around and moved herself between the redhead's legs as Emily wrapped her arms around her girlfriend's neck and kissed her on the side of the head. _

_"__Fine…I'll wait until you cook me dinner" she said taking the phone away from Naomi and starting to type the word 'Wonderwall' on the search engine. _

_Naomi smiled wanting to tell her little bottom-less barrel of a girlfriend that the three cartons of Chinese food she'd just eaten WAS their dinner, but because Emily had such a close hold on her, because she looked so cute with a bit of sauce still on her lips and because staying for dinner might mean Emily allowing her to stay over again that night instead of going to Gina's...she didn't complain at all. She just lay there watching her girlfriend's finger swiping through her phone looking for an answer to her own question._

_"__Here it is" Emily said amused at finding an answer, after swiping through pages and pages of information about Oasis, copies of the lyrics, of the history of the band and its members, etc. she finally found something. _

_"__Wonderwall: A barrier which separates the mundane from the transcendent reality__" She said confused. "What the heck does that even mean?" _

_Naomi laughed because even though she always thought of herself as quite the intellectual, she wasn't really sure what that could mean as it related to the song she liked singing so much. _

_"__I have no clue" She admitted, taking the phone from Emily and starting to swipe through the rest of the definitions on the pop culture dictionary where Emily had found the answer. _

_"__Jesus, there are so many definitions" She said a bit annoyed. "An annoying song emo teenagers sing when they are hopelessly in love, your soul mate, a person who saves you from yourself...my gosh, there are like 10 pages full of them." She said still swiping down. _

_"Listen to these...a mirror addicts use to rail lines of coke off of..._a contraceptive, keeping you from freely enjoying sexual intercourse, namely a condom...T_he thin dividing wall between rectum and vagina. scientific name: rectocele...What the actual fuck?" She said surprised, as she read through all the rest of the ridiculous definitions she'd find. Emily laughed at hearing her girlfriend's reaction. _

_"__Well that's bloody anti-romantic, innit?" Naomi said a bit disillusioned with what the song actually meant to other people. _

_"__Oh baby, don't get upset…I think it means different things to different people, you know…"_

_"__Right" Naomi answered a bit pouty and Emily took the phone away from her and moved over a bit to kiss her. _

_"__I still think it's quite romantic" Emily said still kissing her. "The way you sing it to me every time the baby starts to kick a bit…it calms him down. I think he likes it" _

_"__He probably can't even hear it…babies can't really hear anything except their mother's voice when they are inside the womb. People thought that they did, but I read the other day that it's useless for anyone else to talk to the baby because he can't really hear them inside there..."_

_Naomi's face was so full of sadness and disillusion as she explain this entire thing to Emily. "Oh baby, don't get that way...I know he can hear you. He calms down immediately once you start to sing. How do you explain that?"_

_"He probably just feels you calm down and relaxes as well...nothing to do with me. All the studies say he can't hear me at all. I should probably stop singing him that stupid song already."_

_"Well, I think you're wrong."_

_"I am not, alright?" Naomi said upset, moving a bit away from Emily as the redhead pulled her back to her and kissed her on cheeks._

_"So if you know that he can't hear you, why do you remain singing it to us then?" Emily inquired, a bit sad at learning this one single pregnancy factoid that Naomi had kept from her; she usually went on about all she'd read on the pregnancy for hours (almost to the point of starting to sound a bit like Emily's college mate JJ, who she was sure had a bit of mild autism)_

_"__I love the way you look at me when I do." _

Naomi was trying really hard not to look up from her plate because the way Emily had been looking at her the entire time they were eating lunch with Katie was starting to make her entire body flushed.

"And so you both agree to help me set the entire thing up, right Naomi?" Katie said loudly, interrupting Naomi's failing attempts at not looking guilty.

"Huh?" She answered, a bit unsure what it even was her ex sister-in-law was talking about and looking up at Emily who was looking at her with a smile that made her entire face glow with sheer joy.

"I asked if you were on board with helping Emily and I set up the entire wedding vow party in the gardens…"

"What?" Naomi answered, still staring at her ex-wife who was looking mighty beautiful with her hair still a bit wet from the shower. "You are having the party in the gardens?"

"Since I didn't have time to cancel the venue we lost all the deposits on everything…I thought we could just have something smaller, just the most immediate family and friends here in the house, since we have such a huge garden...we could probably fit up to 50 people if we wanted to…why do I get the feeling you know nothing about this…Emsy, what the heck? I thought you said she knew all about this!"

"She knows" Emily spoke in a soft raspy voice that made Naomi's stomach jolt with excitement.

"So why is she looking at me with that dumb grin on on her face then?" Katie said a bit upset at Naomi who seemed to be a bit lost in space the entire time she was talking to her. "Are you sure you're not just saying that so that I don't scold Emily about the fact that she forgets _everything _I tell her two seconds after I've just to her?...you don't look like you know!"

"Katie!" Naomi said a bit loudly, now looking at the elder twin a bit upset at her insistence. "Trust me…_I know_"

_"__Oh fuck..."_

_Emily was trying her best to bite her lips and be as quiet as she could while she felt Naomi's fingers thrusting deep inside her while her thumb made wonder-producing circles around her clit. They were in the shower, trying to elongate their time together as much as they could without anyone finding out just yet what they were up to._

_But even if she tried holding in her moans as best as she could as her ex-wife fucked her blind for the third time that morning, she really couldn't hold it out any longer. She tried burying her fingernails on Naomi's back and biting her own lip as hard as she could, almost about to cut right through it when she heard the worst fucking sound in the world. _

_"__What the fuck Emsy, I thought you stopped doing that shit to yourself in the shower after mum caught you that time we came home for University for Christmas" _

_"__Katie, what the fuck?" She said pushing poor Naomi, who almost jumped back and fell into the shower floor from surprise, away from her. "Don't you fucking knock?"_

_Emily immediately placed her hand over Naomi's mouth so that the blonde couldn't say anything, the rage in her eyes evident. If Naomi had ever wanted to kill Katie Fitch at any time in her life, this was definitely that time. _

_"__Knock? Ha!" Katie said with a chuckle as she looked around the bathroom for a nail file while Emily peeked her head out from behind the navy-blue and opal colored shower curtains that Liam had picked out for their bathroom in her parents' home a few years back. "Why the fuck would I need to knock, it's not like I haven't see you naked before, Ems…we are identical twins for fucks sake…besides the fact that I have better tits, we are pretty much the same everywhere..."_

_Emily shook her head in disbelief and then looked back at Naomi who was standing in front of her, dripping wet from the water that still fell from the shower head. _

_She wanted to laugh, both at the fact that Katie was just behind that very thin curtain completely unaware that she wasn't alone and at the upset face Naomi had, all wet from the running of the shower water which made her look like a wet chicken from one of those old cartoons James used to watch when they were young. _

_She moved over toward her ex-wife and took her into her arms and kissed her face a bit, while still talking to Katie. "What the fuck do you want Katie?" _

_"__I need a favor from you and Naomi..." Katie said as sat down on the toilet right nearby the shower. _

_"__What?" Emily said a little nervous about the mention of Naomi, almost unsure whether Katie did or did not know that they were in there together. _

_"__Me and Naomi?" She said moving away from the blonde and peaking her head out of the curtain again while Naomi busied herself pouring some shower gel and start to actually shower (since they were probably gonna be there for a while)_

_"__Yea" Katie looking up from her nail-filing at her sister who looked utterly petrified. "I am hoping you could ask her yourself, since Liam and I have been looking for her but can't find her…he said she was with you but she wasn't in the room…"_

_"__I think she mentioned something about going for a run" Emily said back to her sister while Katie got up and handed her a towel, assuming Emily was about to step out of the shower. Emily shooed it away and closed the curtain to make sure Katie didn't see the naked blonde that was covered in soap in front of her. _

_"__She's trying to look fit for the new job with the gyms ,since she has to deal with all those fitness-crazed vendors and such...she thinks she needs to look the part…though I hardly think she can look better than she already does" Emily said while she grabbed Naomi's arse which was right in front of her making the blonde almost shriek in surprise. _

_Katie rolled her eyes, but also smiled at the comment from her sister because this was the first time in more than a year that she'd heard Emily say those types of things about Naomi._

_"__Yea, well as much as I do enjoy listening you salivate over Naomi's body…not…" Katie answered a bit exaggerated. "You still haven't let me tell you about what favor I need from you…" __Katie said standing up right next to the toilet, flushing it and making both Naomi and Emily jump as the felt a surge of scorching water hit them and heard Katie open the door to the bathroom and walk out. "Get dressed and I'll tell you all about it…I need to go see if mum put Hanna down for her nap"_

Naomi rubbed the back of her neck, which was still burning from the hot water that had fallen all over her back after Katie had flushed the toiled on them. "What is it that you even want me to help you with Katie? I thought you said I was useless at organizing parties and that the only thing I was good at was showing up"

"You don't have to organize anything…James and I got that covered."

"You got James to help you too?" Emily said a bit amused that her brother actually volunteered to participate in anything that had to do with their family, since he had been dating Bridget he was practically sown at his girlfriend's hip.

"Yes, him and Bridget are in charge of the music and the entertainment along with Liam and mum and I are gonna sort out the catering, guess list, invitations…all that stuff."

"So what are we in charge of?" Naomi said a bit annoyed at Katie as she remembered her interruption.

"Well, Emsy will still do the cake…obviously." She said looking at Emily who was staring at Naomi stupidly smiling at her. "And you are gonna help her with the decorations"

"Ha" Naomi said taking a bit of food into her mouth. "You want _me _to help with the decorations? Katie…come on, I thought you got off the happy baccy years ago…"

Katie pressed her lips annoyed at her sister-in-law for making fun of the fact that she became quite incoherent every time she smoked weed for some reason. No matter how much she'd drank and done other stuff back in college and uni, for some reason weed still messed her up.

"Oh shut up" Katie answered a bit too childish than she had meant it and then went on ignoring Naomi's smug face. "I can't do it all and despite the fact that you are obviously color-blind by the look of that outfit you have on, I still need you to…like…help Emsy set up, you know…do the handy work. You're a lezza, you can manage some simple handy work…can't you Naomi?"

Naomi would've been really upset at Katie's rude comments if she hadn't been looking at Emily who was biting her thumb with a cheeky grin on her face. Naomi knew exactly what she'd been thinking; she knew perfectly well Emily really really loved it when Naomi would do a little handy work around the house. Doing that would actually take a little bit too long because Emily would end up stripping her off her work clothes and having her way with her before she could finish hammering the first nail on the wall.

"Naomi?" Katie said looking at the blonde and then back at her sister who immediately cleared her throat and then looked over to the window. They all looked outside and noticed Liam and their dad were in the garden kicking a football around while Jenna had was sitting on a lounge chair with Hanna reading her a baby book. Naomi couldn't be happier at feeling for the first time since she'd been in Glasgow like she was back home again. Like suddenly they were a family.

"Yea, I am in…_alright?_…pass me the salt, will ya?" She said still smiling and waiving at Liam who smiled back at all three of them. Emily looked back at Naomi who looked extremely happy and she had to bury her fingers on her thigh to stop herself from moving over a bit and just kissing her senselessly.

Katie didn't say anything else, she passed Naomi the salt and then looked suspiciously at them both as they each tried not to look at each other while they ate. She smiled because she knew for sure this would easier than she thought it was gonna be. Naomi and Emily were already looking like they wanted to jump each other and everything was going just as planned and she couldn't wait to finish eating her lunch so that she could tell her nephew Liam that she was almost certain his mummies would be back together before they left back home to Bristol.

And she couldn't be more right.


	30. Chapter 30

**_Hello again, everyone. I'd like to start this A/N by deeply apoligizing for taking so darn long to update this story but the truth is that I have had two really major things sort of get in my way of updating. One positive and one negative. _**

**_The negative one is that I have been rather sick (like hospital-style) these last few days (actually longer than that, but these last few weeks have been some of the worse) and I really have not had the stamina or mental energy to sit and write at all. _**

**_I _****_know that it might sound ridiculous to apologize for this but I really really hate when author's leave their work undone, it's really very frustrating and I have spent almost every day torturing myself because I couldn't (or wouldn't) write. Maybe it's neurotic of me, but it really did bother me so I committed myself to finish the story as soon as I can while I am feeling well. Today I am not feeling at 100% so my writing might not be at 100% but I tried to write the best I could to move the story along. I promise it will be better, just give it time._**

**_The second, more positive reason is rather silly and its called football. Or, well...I guess since I am American I should call it soccer...but I still call it football because I don't actually understand a lick of the other football (the superbowl kind) so to me this is football and the other is wrestling with helmets and walnut-shaped ball in their hands. _**

**_Anyway, here is a bit of my story...chapter 30...i_****_t has a bit of the original story (I pre-planned...boy, I am starting to sound anal, aren't I?) and it also has a hint of another story I just finished reading which I oddly really really liked (because usually it's not my kinda genre.) _**

**_If you catch which story it is, tell me it on the review box. We'll make it into a game of guessing...since I am extremely bored and I also need inspiration, I hope you are kind with your reviews and you let me know if you know which story it was._**

**_Love you guys, thanks to everyone and a very special thanks to Kathryplove who has literally written me 16 reviews in the last like 2 days. Welcome aboard, hope you catch up and you remain liking it. I wish I could answer all your comments, but I guess that as long as you keep on reading...they kinda answer themselves, don't they? _**

**_Also, a small shout out to people who go to 1D concerts and cry. You know...those fluffy kinda people. _**

**_As always character's belong to skins...Liam, spelling errors and the story are mine. Here goes number 30...more soon...have a good Thrusday, my friends..._**

* * *

_30_

"What in the heck is going on?"

It was a late summer afternoon in Glasgow and the Fitch household wasn't exactly having the best day of their entire lives.

"The lights don't look right, I told you…that side looks lopsided…this is gonna look like shit Naomi. Bring it down and start over again! Friggin' useless!"

"Hey, don't you talk to me that way…alright? I am doing the best I can. I am doing this as a favor; I am not your hired help!"

"Start over again…"

Without saying much else Emily looked at Katie who was watching her fighting with Naomi about every petty and stupid little thing that she could possibly find about the decoration of the gardens for the ceremony that was gonna be held in the next couple of days and she still couldn't believe it.

"God, can you at least try to be a little nice, Emsy…she's right, it's not like we're paying her to do this."

"Why are you suddenly being so nice to her anyway? She's been a daft cow about this entire thing and you know it…if it had been _you_ working with _her_ you both may have already gone into a yelling match like every time you must do anything together. So stop pretending she's your best mate now"

Emily walked away from Katie looking rather furious and walked over toward the her father's shed which was at the other side of the garden, far away from the house.

Katie watched her sister walking away still complaining and shook her head in disbelief and then walked over toward James and Liam who were taking care of some tasks she had assigned them earlier in the day.

"I don't think they're getting any better…" James said drinking water from some small water bottles Katie had brought over to them to help them stay hydrated. "If anything, I think we are making things worse."

"Stop it, alright?" She said starting to get upset herself. "I know that I had said my plan to get these working together was fool proof but I don't know what it is that's going on. They're usually so good at working with one another, I remember when Cook and I moved into our own flat…they practically helped me refurbish the entire thing, it was a dump when we first bought it. They worked marvelously together...and they couldn't keep their hands off one another. This was supposed to work."

"Well maybe that was back then…when they loved each other"

"They STILL love each other" Liam corrected his uncle immediately and then walked away into the house, a bit upset at what he was seeing. He was sure his Aunt's plan was gonna work like a charm and now it wasn't. His mum's were fighting even more than usual…even more than they had during their separation and he didn't even know where that was coming from. It was so unusual, so strange…he still couldn't comprehend what was going on. It was completely unbelievable.

On the other side of the garden, Naomi walked into her ex father-in-law's shed where he kept his tools, equipment and other 'guy' stuff that Jenna did not let him keep in the house.

"You should be some kind of an actress Em, that was un-be-effing-livable…I actually thought you were mad at me for a second there."

She smiled widely, desperate to take advantage of the fact that they'd all gone inside for a bite to eat so that she can get some stolen kisses from her ex-wife but as she walked in she had to stop for a second to watch her deliciously sexy ex-wife trying to grab some tool from a top drawer where she would never be able to reach.

Those shorts she was wearing, that small shirt she had to borrow from Katie (because they were now gone past the time they had all planned to stay and were now fresh out of the clothes' they'd brought) that was riding up her body revealing that midsection where Naomi had left some bite marks that no one was supposed to see were suddenly making ever fibre of her being start to feel hot and flushed and…

"You wanna stop perving on me and actually get your arse over here and help me reach for these wrenches?" Emily said with a voice that sounded just as serious as she had when she was outside.

Naomi smiled, biting her lip at the sound of her ex-wife's actual upset voice (not the one she had been trying to fake in front of the entire family all morning, but the one she had when she was really upset) and then walked over toward her, stepping right behind her and reaching the tool box without much effort and then kissing her on her right shoulder.

"You sound like you're actually starting to get upset or something…"

Emily turned around and handed Naomi the tool box so that she can hold it and then started to reach in to find what she needed.

"Well, wouldn't you be upset baby? It's lunch time and we're still not even half-way done with the list of chores were supposed to do for Katie…and I still must get up early tomorrow to go shopping for the cake ingredients and get with the photographers…this wedding planning shit is a frigging nightmare."

"Hey…" Naomi said putting the box to one side and taking Emily into her arms. "Don't start freaking out, alright…we're gonna get everything done on time. Don't worry"

Without asking permission, she started to kiss Emily's neck slowly as her hands shimmied their way underneath that very revealing pair of shorts she was wearing.

"Mmmm" Emily moaned a tiny bit at feeling Naomi attacking her pulse point where she knew Emily was most sensitive and she instinctively pulled the blonde closer to her.

"You're driving me insane with those shorts" Naomi whispered into her ear as she remained exploring underneath the shorts to find Emily wasn't wearing knickers and then she gasped.

Naomi stopped and looked straight at her "You weren't kidding about not having any knickers on."

Emily looked at her and laughed a bit and then pulled arms around her neck and started to kiss her. "Almost 14 years with me and you still don't know…I _never_ kid around about not wearing knickers"

_"__I am coming over, right now" _

_"__Now?...no…Ems…I have a staff meeting and…" _

_"__Cancel it…"_

_"But Emily...I can't..."_

_Naomi bit her lip and pressed her eyes so hard at hearing the voice of her wife on the phone and she ran toward her office to tell her staff the meeting was cancelled and then ran over through the hallway of the office, past the receptionist and into the private bathroom she had in her own office to get ready for Emily and almost shrieked out in surprise when she found her there._

_"__Thought I'd find you here" Emily said with a sultry voice as she walked past the bathroom door toward Naomi's office and then locked the door and closed the shading. _

_"__I wasn't gonna…I mean…I was gonna…I was gonna look for you outside, you always wait for me outside….why are you here…why didn't you wait until I…."_

_"__Gracie let me in…such a pleasant young girl…" _

_"__Gracie" Naomi said trying to make a mental note to fire Gracie Blood for being so gosh-darn naïve when it came to letting everyone into her office without permission….she did it with vendors, with clients, with her stalkerish-publicist…the girl was crap at being a receptionist. _

_"__Yea, she's nice…"_

_"__Yes…a very nice girl" Emily said smiling cheekily at Naomi who was awkwardly trying to think of ways of diverting the attention off of what Emily was about to do, because she knew that although this was only just a game and what they were doing was for them both to enjoy it…she also knew that Emily's controlling 'Fitch' nature sometimes made her go a little overboard with it all. She knew that she wasn't playing fair…and Emily wasn't gonna let her get away with playing unfair. _

_"__You know who is NOT gonna be very nice girl when they find out that you have been disobeying them? Emily said moving closer to Naomi and pulling her hand up her thigh, underneath her skirt to reveal whether she was right or wrong about her suspicions. _

_"__Umm…"_

_"Me__" She said pulling her other hand up her skirt and pushing her against the wall of the office with a force that made Naomi's leg's turn into jelly. _

_"__Did I, or did I not tell you that today you would NOT be allowed to wear any knickers?"_

_"__You did, but I…you know…my staff meeting and I had to meet with some media consultants later on..."_

_"__I don't care" Emily said pulling one of her hands up to Naomi's lips and shushing her. _

_"__You know perfectly well, Naomi…that I NEVER kid around about not wearing knickers"_

_"I know" Naomi said looking at her, trying to catch her breath from the exhilaration of the way Emily was looking at her. _

_"So you know what happens next, right?" _

"Hey, you girls in here…Jenna and Katie are calling us in for lunch and…"

Rob Fitch wasn't expecting to get a glimpse of the one thing no one in the Fitch family was not supposed to see and when he did he literally felt just as flushed and out of breath as that time he'd had heart angina.

"Dad…oh my gosh" Emily placed her face on Naomi's shoulder to cover her embarrassment, though her entire body was covered by Naomi's (who was giving Rob her back) she still felt like she could not (now or maybe never again) look at her dad straight in the eyes.

"I'm…oh…bloody hell…I am sorry..."

"It's okay, Rob" Naomi said calmly as she removed her hand from where they had been "exploring" and moved a bit to zip her ex-wife's shorts up and gave her a kiss on the forehead before turning around to face her ex dad-in-law.

"We're sorry…we should've been more careful…we just…" She looked at Emily whose face looked almost the same shade of red as her hair used to be once and then snaked her arm around across her back and pulled her closer. "We can't help ourselves."

Robert smiled and sighed in relief, because thought that had to be the most embarrassing moment had ever experienced with one of his daughters, hearing (and watching Naomi) say that, made all the worries that had been ruminating in his mind since he'd found out about the separation just melt away completely.

"Emily and I…we've been…"

"Naomi, It isn't any of my business…"

"No, but it is…it's your business because in a way we've been lying to you…and well…to everyone else about what's been happening…" Naomi answered as she looked at Emily who was still trying to compose herself from the shock of having been caught like 'that' by her father. Out of everyone in the entire Fitch household, the last person she'd ever wanna be caught by in a moment like that was her beloved dad.

"I am sure if you haven't told us…if you don't wanna tell us anything…there's a good reason…"

"And there is…" Emily said finally looking up and answering, after taking a deep, long breath."There's a huge reason…"

"We're back together…" Naomi said smiling, not being able to contain herself anymore. She had been so happy about the things that had gone on the last few days with Emily that she was about to explode if she did not tell someone else about it. But she couldn't do it because Emily was so worried about Liam finding out, that she even went as far as asking her not to even tell Cook about it when she called him to check up on him.

"Naomi…we're only discussing the possibility…" Emily interrupted, still a bit nervous about telling someone.

"We're back together, we are in love again Rob….or…rather…we're still in love" Naomi interrupted her again, looking like a child who had just seen Father Christmas. She moved closer to Emily and held her in her arms, while Emily remained a bit stiff, trying not to looking into her father's eyes.

"But we are _being careful_ because we don't wanna hurt Liam…" Naomi went on, trying to explain why they were hiding.

"We don't want him to get his hopes up" Emily said still not looking at her dad in the eyes... " We don't wanna hurt him _or ourselves _in the process, we need a bit of time to sort things out and work through things…"

"But we're good" Naomi said couldn't contain her happiness. "We're talking and we're listening and we are gonna have another kid…you're gonna be a granddad again Rob!"

_"__How about Noel?" _

_"__Noel, again…baby? That name just doesn't SOUND right…Noel Fitch…Noel Fitch..." Emily repeated the name a few times, still not very convinced about it. _

_"You're right...it does sound weird…Noel Fitch...sounds like mo__le itch" Naomi said laughing and moving closer to her Emily so that she could hold her tighter. _

_"What the heck is a mole itch?" Emily said laughing so loudly that Naomi had to shush her so that she wouldn't wake up everyone in the rest of the house. The least they wanted to do was be found how they were, cuddled up with one another, completely in the nude and laying on top of their bed. _

_"I dunno...something gross..." _

_Emily moved her leg that was falling asleep between Naomi's legs and pulled her ex-wife closer to her. _

_"What about Chelsea...for a girl..." Naomi said playing with Emily's nipple a bit while Emily kissed her forehead and traced her finger through her hair. _

_"No...no...no...definitely, not Chelsea..." _

_This was the third night they had been able to spend together in Emily's room, without being caught. What they had been doing, hiding their little 'affair' from everyone in the house had been exciting and also a bit comforting, as they had both missed being with each other so much._

_Everyone thought that they had been sleeping in separate rooms the entire time as Naomi had asked Rob to allow her to sleep in his study to give Emily her 'privacy'. But once everyone was asleep Naomi would sneak back into the room they'd always share where Emily was always waiting for her with a huge smile on her face. _

_"Why not, it's a pretty name...Chelsea Fitch Campbell..." Naomi said closing her eyes and moving closer toward Emily who held her tighter. _

_"It is a pretty name, but you know Dad would flip out if I let you name our kid Chelsea...hell, I think he'd rather we name her Arsenal first..." _

_Just by looking at them, their body language, they way they planned out their future spoke truly of how much they'd missed being around each other all the time._

_"Arsenal Fitch Campbell...mmm...not too bad...Arsia for short.." Naomi started to laugh at seeing Emily's face. _

_"Arsia...who in their right mind would name their kid Arsia?" Emily said a little louder. _

_"__From the very first day they'd moved in together and up until Emily had thrown Naomi out of the house (or maybe a bit before that) these two had been utterly inseparable._

_What? It's pretty...Arsia...Arrrsia..." She repeated the name a few times, trying to make it sound okay. _

_"No..."_

_"Why not?"_

_"Arse-sia, Naomi...Arse...sia..." _

_The only times in which they even slept apart from one another was when either one of them was on a business trip and even then, their nights would usually end with a long video chat conversation in which Naomi would usually fall asleep to the sound of Emily (who was scrunched up in bed with Liam that night, since she could no longer sleep alone) telling her about her entire day._

__"Why do you always wanna name our children after things you like...Noel Gallagher, Chelsea FC...?"__

__"Arse..." Naomi said as Emily laughed and smacked her on the shoulder. __

__"What...only yours though...I only like yours..." Naomi laughed at Emily's face. __

__"Right..." Emily said turning around pretending to be upset at her ex-wife. Naomi moved up a bit and spooned her. __

__"All I have done, this entire time we've spent apart is think of you baby..." Naomi said a bit more serious about her words than Emily had expected, though they had been playing around about the everything (including the kids names) all of a sudden the way Naomi was holding her and talking to her, it made her feel the pain of having been apart for so long. __

__"I've missed you so much" Emily said pulling Naomi closer to her, feeling her warmth surrounding her, capturing that feeling of tranquility that came only when she was this close to her. __

__And it was the same for Naomi. ___Their voices, their conversation, the act of being there each night in bed together was soothing enough to place them both at ease…to reassure them that all was right with the world._

_"You can't begin to imagine how much I've missed you..." Naomi answered, with a lump on her throat that made her wanna start to cry. _

_Emily didn't know this, but throughout the entire year and half apart Naomi could only fall asleep to the sound of the last few message Emily had left on her voice mail on the night they had fought...that night which would later turn into the day Emily would find Naomi sleeping in that hotel room with Sophia. _

_Those message were of Emily begging Naomi to come back to her, some of them were desperate…but other's were soothing and calm and gentle. All of them relayed a message through Emily's voice, through her words, even through the cadences in her breaths…it told Naomi that up that point Emily still wanted her…that she still needed her back._

_Even if things hadn't been well before what had happened with Sophia, all those messages that Emily left Naomi that night were the thing that kept Naomi's beacon of hope lit while she felt so alone that she thought she was gonna die without her...without them. _

_Those messages kept her fighting, even when she absolutely wanted to give up. _

_"__Well, I guess maybe if he's a boy we could name him Noel if you really wanted to..." Emily said with a shaky voice, almost about to cry. _

_"It won't be like Liam, he won't just be Noel Fitch...he will be Noel Fitch Campbell...or Campbell Fitch, since we'll both be his mums and...there won't be a doubt about that." _

_Emily started to cry, the tears started to fall down her cheeks almost involuntarily and the pain in her heart was evident. "So then he'll end up being named Noel Campbell Fitch and that actually sounds a lot better than..." _

_Naomi noticed her sniffing and she moved her around rapidly and captured_ _her_ _lips with her own and started to kiss her. "We could name him anything you want, baby" _

_This was the moment when Naomi could no longer go on talking and she just kissed Emily with all the passion and love and emotion she felt inside of her...just because she could. She could kiss her...she could hold her...she could plan having more kids with her...she had her back..._

_Nothing else mattered, anymore. _

"A granddad?" Rob Fitch started to laugh. "This is more serious than I anticipated"

"Anticipated? Wait...you knew?" Naomi said a bit surprised.

"I had a hunch, you two were looking at each other like you did when you came back from Bahamas..." Rob smiled at the memory of it.

"Do you think anyone else knows?" Emily said a bit worried, after a long sigh.

"I can't say they don't, but I doubt it...there are talks around the house about a certain plan of trying to get you two back together..." Robert laughed at the ridiculousness of the entire thing, but even so...it made him extremely happy. "It's kind of cute of them to ban together for the common good...plus, it keeps them busy. I didn't wanna ruin their little plan"

"I knew something was up..." Naomi said to Emily who didn't say anything back."I'd never seen Katie, Liam and James so friendly with each other"

Emily did not say anything at all, she allowed her dad and Naomi to remain discussing it all...but she looked worried.

"So you knew, but you never said anything..." Naomi said smiling too. "Why didn't you?"

"I just thought you two were...you know..."

"Shagging?" Naomi said as Emily looked up at her like she couldn't believe this was the conversation they were having with her dad.

"Right...I just thought you two were shagging, I didn't know you were back in love...talking about kids and all...this is huge..."

"It is…" Naomi jumped a bit, disregarding the fact that Rob had literally just found her and Emily doing some things she'd never want him to even know she ever did to his daughter and walked over and pulled him into a hug.

Emily lagged behind and smiled and looked up at her dad who smiled at her and opened his arms wider so that they she could hug him too.

"I am so happy for you both" Rob said as he hugged both his daughter's (yes, he did consider Naomi one of his daughters now) into one of his signature Fitch hugs.

"Now let's all go get back inside before any one of the others start to wonder what is that's taking us so long."

"Yea" Both Naomi and Emily let go of Rob's hug and then started to walk over toward the door of the shed. Naomi took a chance to grab on to the tool box and take it with her inside so nothing looked suspicious, while Emily hugged her dad again and they started walking.

"Thank you for keeping it quiet dad…this all worried me so much…" Emily said walking alongside him.

"Don't worry about a thing darling…you know I am a vault. I won't tell anyone anything about this. Especially not Liam…"

"_Not tell me about what?"_

* * *

**Go on, review and let me know what you think...if you know what other fanfic I just finished reading and/or just say hi...btw, Congrats Germany and Argentina! I love Football! (The good kind, sorry Americans LOL)**


	31. Chapter 31

**_Oh, you guys are so cool. Thank you for your kind reviews and I am glad you are still liking the story so very much. I really wish I could answer everyone on here, but I don't wanna go on with a huge A/N full of thank yous so instead I am sending each and everyone one of you who reviews, or likes, or reads this a great big hug and thank you for your kind words and your support. _**

**_I am really sorry about the confusion with Chapter 31. I originally posted it like two days ago and for some reason ffnet had been giving me an error and it wasn't formatting it. I wasn't sure what was up, so I deleted it and when I went to re-post it, it no longer allowed it until now. Anyway, here it is...I hope you like it. _**

**_So without much more to say, I leave you here with this next chapter..I have no beta, character's aren't mine, only the story. And here it is...number 31..._**

* * *

_31_

"_Tell me about what?" _

"Liam…son…"

Emily had been so scared of this moment the entire time that all was going on between her and Naomi that when the moment actually came, when she had Liam in front of her with his kind eyes and hopeful smile she completely panicked. She did not what to do.

"We…um…we couldn't tell you about..."

"Cook…your Uncle Cook..." Naomi said quickly trying to change the subject so that her ex wife would not start to freak out. "It looks like he might get out sooner than we thought…"

"Naomi!" Rob looked back at his daughter-in-law with an upset face at what she had just revealed to Liam and Emily something he had told her under an vow of secrecy. Something that wasn't supposed to be revealed to anyone until everything was confirmed. Something he wasn't sure could actually happen the way he hoped.

"I am sorry, Rob" Naomi went on, ignoring her Robert's pleading eyes and opting to save Emily from a complete nervous breakdown. "I know we aren't supposed to reveal anything yet because it's not confirmed but…" she said looking at Liam and then Emily. "There have been some new evidence in Cook's case that might help him get out on parole earlier than we thought…"

"Really?" Liam's eyes filled with complete joy at knowing the great news about his favorite uncle. "So he's coming home before December?"

"Well um…" Naomi said now trying not to look at the elder Fitch who looked completely flabbergasted at seeing Naomi use this secret to save her and Emily's own. "He might actually be getting out before the week is over…"

"Oh my gosh!" Liam literally jumped up and down and ran toward his grandfather and gave him a hug upon hearing this. "This is amazing news….aunt Kay is gonna flip out…"

"We can't tell anything to Katie, son" Rob said as he cleared his throat and looked at Naomi with disapproving eyes. "We don't know for sure that any of this will actually happen…we don't wanna give your aunt Katie any false hope…so this has to remain a secret…alright?"

Rob looked at both Emily and Naomi who looked both relieved and also guilty about the entire thing. "You _can_ keep a secret, can't you my lad?" He said, hoping his grandson was a lot better at keeping the secret than his mother was.

"Of course" Liam said as he pulled his grandfather by the arm so he could follow him back into their home. "I am just like you grandpa, I am vault…"

Naomi and Emily both stayed behind, still feeling like complete shit for having to remain lying and at the same time revealing a secret no one was supposed to know.

"Oh my fucking Christ" Emily said finally able to let go of a breath she'd been holding since her son had walked in. She looked at Naomi who was smiling softly at her and then looked up and saw Rob and Liam start to walk away through the gardens toward the house and away from them. "Thank you…you didn't have to…"

"Don't…you don't have to thank me…" Naomi answered, placing her finger on Emily's lip to shush her."I know how important it is for you that Liam doesn't know yet…I told you I'd do anything as long as you're okay."

Emily looked back at her and smiled as well, they were standing so close that suddenly she felt like she wanted desperately to kiss her after she'd just told her that but she knew she couldn't. Liam and Rob were still just steps away.

"Yea, you did…I just don't want you to think I don't want this...because I do...I just need a little bit more time…" Emily said looking down at the floor as Naomi moved closer to her and took her by the chin and pulled her face up so she could look at her.

"Babe, I know…I told you already, you've got all the time you need sort this out. For you all I have is time."

_Beep…Beep…Beep…_

_"Holy fucking shit, that's loud" _

_Naomi woke up from the most delicious slumber she'd had in ages to the sound of the annoying alarm she'd placed on purpose so that she could wake up with just enough time to sneak back into her room before any of the rest of her family woke up before them. _

_She snaked her head around trying to look for the phone that was still beeping as she felt Emily turn around and cuddle into her and she smiled and placed a small kiss on the tip of that button nose that she always loved so much and then whispered in her ear. _

_"I've gotta get going, beautiful" She said to Emily as she grabbed the phone from right behind her and turned off the annoying sound and felt Emily move closer to her. "It's almost 4 AM" _

_"Don't go yet…" Emily whispered in her extra-raspy sleepy voice. "Give me five more minutes" _

_Naomi chuckled as she felt Emily move up and bury her nose into the blonde's neck and remain sleeping. "Five more minutes" _

_Of course Naomi would give her five more minutes, in fact…she'd probably give her the rest of her time if she had the ability to do so. But as she looked at the clock on her phone again and noticed the time she knew that she couldn't allow for any more than just five minutes because soon each one of the Fitches would start getting up (As they were all, for some reason, annoyingly early risers) and she wouldn't have time to flee back into her room. _

_Still, as she opened her eyes and looked out the window at the moon that was shining bright she sighed from pure joy at feeling Emily's petit completely naked body resting lightly on top of hers. She had to smile because she couldn't help it. She'd spent an entire year and a half without this and now she'd give anything to savour any and every second she had with her, as if it was her last. _

_"Mmmm" she heard Emily grunt a bit in her sleep and Naomi pulled her closer and moved her hair out of the way to kiss her forehead. She closed her eyes for what felt like a second and when she opened them she looked back at the clock and noticed how much time had passed and decided it was better if she did go…she knew Katie sometimes got up extra early because of Hanna and the least either one of them wanted was to be found out...especially not by Katie. _

_"Babe" She whispered to Emily's ear as Emily tried unsuccessfully to open her eyes. "I really gotta get going now, it's getting really late." _

_"Nouuu" Emily complained as she snaked her arm around Naomi's torso and moved clumsily to kiss her neck, falling right back to sleep in the middle of kissing her. _

_"You're a worse cheater than I am" Naomi said laughing and moving Emily's arm off of her so that she could get up off the bed, but Emily didn't let her. _

_"If this is your pathetic way of convincing me to stay, you aren't a doing a very good job." She said mocking her a bit and then starting to pull away, but Emily wasn't allowing it. Despite the fact that she was till half-asleep Emily __tried to remain kissing her, with her eyes still closed and as Naomi smiled and tried to pull away and then...she felt something she wasn't expecting._

_"Jesus…how are you this friggin'….Emily!" was all she could say before she felt her ex wife's leg move in between hers, her lips fiercely attacking the same spot she was trying to clumsily kiss just a few seconds prior. _

_Emily laughed as she heard her ex wife complaining about taking her by surprise, but she remained kissing her, biting her…doing anything she possibly could to make her stay a little longer._

_"Five more minutes" Emily said moving sensually on top of her, leaving Naomi more than a little flushed. _

_"Five….more….minutes…" Naomi answered feeling Emily's wetness all over her thighs as she moved her face to meet Naomi's and placed her forehead against hers. _

_"Maybe a little longer than five" _

"Jesus, what the hell is taking them so long? I am starving."

Katie had been in a horrid mood the entire morning as she watched her plan to get her sister and Naomi back together was a completely failure and soon both Liam and James were ready to jump ship at the first chance they got.

"Liam went to get them, just give them another minute…will ya?" James said also a bit upset as she texted his girlfriend enthusiastically about what was happening with their entire plan. He had the habit of including Bridget in anything and everything that went on in his life when they weren't together, so as much as Katie disapproved of the entire thing (since Bridget and her family weren't exactly Katie's favourite clan of people) they now had added a new ally to the "Naomily Brigade"…a name Liam had come up with as they sat together planning out their initial strategy. "You know if you keep on being this anal about everything, this plan is gonna fail miserably…we gotta give it a little more time. These things take time"

"What plan?" Jenna said as she walked inside of the dining area from the kitchen where she had been finishing the family's lunch.

"Don't worry about it, mum" Katie went to say before she was interrupted by her youngest brother, who despite being a mid-ranking naval officer who went on top secret missions to capture terrorists in Afganistan was actually a bit of a blabber-mouth.

"The plan to get Emily and Naomi back together…Liam, Katie, Bridget and I are trying to get them together before they go back to Bristol and sign those divorce papers…"

"James, what the fuck!" Katie said, bugging her eyes out at him in disbelief. "This was supposed to be a secret…"

"What? It's only mum…it's not like she's gonna blab…she could probably help us out a bit with it, right mum….what we are trying to do is…"

"I told you not to get involved in their business anymore Katherine…hadn't we already discussed this prior?" Jenna interrupted her son, completely ignoring what he was gonna say about the plan and looking at Katie.

"We did, mum and I swear to God that I didn't wanna meddle anymore but…"

"I told you when you said you were making them come up here with the pretext that Rob was sick and that we didn't want him to suffer anymore, that this was the last time you were to get involved in this…Katie you promised…"

"I did promise…and I am sorry I didn't keep my promise…but mum, they needed my help…they were desperate…"

"We were" James tried to intervene, he knew Katie had been apprehensive about getting involved in this whole ordeal but after seeing the state their nephew was in they both couldn't say no to him. Liam had practically begged them both for their help. "It was really my and Liam's idea anyway…Katie just agreed to help us out…"

"I could care less whose idea it was…I told you once and I'll repeat it again…meddling in their business is about the single most stupid thing any of us could do. Trust me, if there is anyone in this house that knows this is me."

Both James and Katie stayed quiet at watching Jenna's voice turn from calm to upset in a matter of seconds. "I was the one who messed this up for them and trust me when I tell you I've tried desperately to fix it all, but there is no fixing this…it's way too late for that."

"Why do you say that?"

_"Hi son…what are you doing up so early?" _

_Jenna walked into the kitchen to find James making himself a cup of tea and a bowl of fruit. He looked exhausted, almost as if he hadn't slept a wink the entire night and he was still wearing his jeans and t-shirt so she assumed he either had slept in his clothes or hadn't slept at all. _

_"I actually just got in from Bridget's…this whole driving back and forth is getting on my last nerve, but I know everyone needs me here…especially after what happened with Liam…"_

_"Well, we appreciate you staying…" Jenna said rubbing his back with her hand and taking the knife from him so that she could finish cutting him up some fruit. "Take a seat and I'll finish this."_

_He sat down with his eyes almost closed. All this commotion, plus the stress of having being deployed was getting to him a bit but he knew he had to be strong and as helpful as he could during everything that was going on._

_"What are you doing up so early?" He said to his mum as he looked at the clock and found it was only half-past six and the dinner party with Gina, Kirean and the rest had gone on all the way until about three in the morning. _

_"I can't sleep…got too much on my mind" _

_She remained cutting up the fruit and he looked at her, he knew that all that was happening was hitting her really hard. Especially after he had heard his dad yelling at her so fiercely while Liam was still hospitalized. Rob had found out rather unexpectedly about all Jenna had done to cause pretty much the demise of Emily, Naomi…and consequentially Liam and he wasn't very happy about it. And he couldn't blame his dad for yelling since he knew from experience what it felt like to be manipulated by Jenna Fitch to the point where his entire life felt like it was falling apart. _

_But somehow, whether it was during his deployment overseas, or his military training or all the suffering he had gone through while trying to get clean before joining the service his heart had soften toward her…and now all he felt was sorry for his mum. Now all he wanted was for things to be better so that everyone stopped pointing a finger at her. He knew what that felt like, but he also knew that even the most evil people deserved to be given a second chance. _

_"Things are gonna get better, you know…we just gotta give them a little more time." He said obviously referring to Naomi and Emily, he could tell that was what his mum was so worried about. _

_"I hope so" Jenna said as she finished with his fruit and handed him the bowl and then went over toward a side table where she kept her correspondence…she had gotten up for a reason, and it wasn't exactly to fix breakfast for James."_

_She started rummaging through a bunch of papers, at first very calmly but then as she looked and looked and couldn't find it she became a bit more frantic. _

_"Where the bleeding heck is it?" She said through her teeth, something that made James look up a bit curious. _

_"What are you looking for?"_

_"This mustard-colored envelope I left here before Liam broke his head…it had a stack of papers in it…I could swear I left it right here…."_

_"Was it one with an address to Bristol?" He said chewing on a piece of strawberry while looking at his mum still rummaging through the piles of paperwork. _

_"Yea, did you see it? Where is it?"_

_"Dad took it" He said nonchalantly as he remained eating away at his breakfast. _

_"Your father? Why did he…where did he put it?" She said, worried…she'd been thinking about the envelope the entire night and had stopped herself from leaving the dinner party with Naomi's parents just to make sure she had it in a safe place. _

_Her plan was for the paperwork not to get mailed yet, she knew that Naomi and Emily needed some extra time to talk and after her talk with Naomi at the hospital she also knew that her daughter-in-law had signed the paperwork as an impulse. _

_Naomi had said it to her. She had told her she was crazy about them. She had told her she'd do anything she could to fix it all and gain them back so she couldn't have possibly intended to sign the divorce papers that day. And Jenna had done nothing but think about fetching them and hiding them before anyone noticed they hadn't been sent. This was her big plan. This was the chance she had petitioned to God the night before. This was the sign that confirmed that God wanted this for her daughter and Naomi. That he was okay with their union. That it was all gonna be fine. _

_"I think he mailed them for you" James answered as he rubbed his left eye and finished up his bowl of fruit before going to bed for a bit. "It was that same day, after we got the news that Liam was fine and when we came back to get some rest dad mailed it. So don't you worry so much about it…whatever it is those papers were, they got to their destination right on time."_

"What are you saying? Are you saying those papers were Emily and Naomi's divorce papers…holy hell" James said upset about what he was hearing his mum tell them. "So that means that…"

"By this time they've already gotten to the lawyers and he's filed them…so like I said, there's no use in anyone doing anything about it anymore…maybe this is what God wants…"

"No!" Katie said a bit furious both at the news about the papers and about her mum's idea about the will of God. After all that had happened with her illness she'd turned to faith for comfort and though she was still the liberal, care-free and tough-as-nuts Katie that everyone knew and loved she had developed her idea of God and faith in her own mind and she just couldn't accept it. She was tired of her mum's excuses for being a selfish cunt.

"Don't give me that bullshit, now you're gonna go back to your same pathetic excuse about it all being against the will of God…I won't take that shit from you anymore mum…"

"That's not what I am saying Katie…I am not trying to use God as an excuse for my actions, I know that what I did was wrong and now I realized…even if it took me this long…I've realized that my idea on this topic is incorrect…but in your sister and Naomi's case…regardless of them being gay I think maybe their relationship has gone through too much…maybe a divorce is the best option for them…for them and for Liam."

"You know, I try my best with you mum, but sometimes I forget how much of a fucking selfish cow you really are…"

"Katie!" James said, getting up from his chair a bit furious at hearing the way his sister spoke to their mum. "A little respect…"

"Respect?" Katie answered, her eyes filled with rage and her voice spewing the anger that she'd felt about her mum's actions not just with her sister and Naomi…but with all of them.

"I can't respect anyone who doesn't deserve it…"

At that point Katie was ready to give up, but as she looked outside and saw Rob and Liam turn the hill and approaching the house she took a deep sigh and tried to control her anger. She knew this wasn't the time or place to have this fight. But this didn't mean she couldn't get a last word in before she ended it.

"And you know what, mum…despite the fact that you think God has had his hands on this entire thing to somehow malevolently try to separate them I'd have you know that divorce wouldn't be a way to do it. I think you underestimate your god because I know…for sure….that those two love each other more than anyone could ever imagine and they could work through this and anything else you and 'your god' throws at them. So what if they _are_ divorced? Maybe it is better that they are…maybe this time, when they are back together they can have a proper wedding…the wedding they deserved to have…not like the last time…"

_"Come on Emsy, please don't cry…you're gonna ruin your make up again."_

_"I can't help it"_

_It was a Friday afternoon, one 11th of August and Emily and Naomi were only a few minutes from finally tying the knot. _

_And though Emily Fitch was the daughter of one of the best wedding planners in the entire UK, for some reason her wedding to Naomi wasn't too much of a big deal as it was only a small ceremony with a few friends and family members and with Liam who by this time of the day had already lost his tie. _

_"You knew when you called the other day that she wouldn't come…she said it was short notice and she couldn't get out of that conference"_

_"I know…but I was hoping she might. You did…Dad cancelled his trip to Ireland…even Jamesy is here and she is the only one that couldn't make it. I still can't believe she hates me so much…"_

_"Oh Jesus…no…Ems, don't say that. Mum doesn't hate you…she's a selfish close-minded cow, but she doesn't hate you…you know she does this because she loves you and she thinks that you being with Naomi is somehow wrong…It's so stupid...you know she's wrong. None of this will ever be wrong..."_

_"I know" Emily said pulling back into her sister and now successfully ruining her make up for the umpteenth time. _

_Katie held her sister back a bit and took a tissue and started to clean her off one more time,not before placing a small kiss on her forehead and smiling at her softly. _

_"She isn't here, but I am…okay?" She said to her little sister, who was only about seven minutes younger than her but that she had somehow always had the urge to protect from everyone….even sometimes from their own mum. _

_"Now let's fix you up so that you can be all lush for your fabulously romantic wedding to the girl of your dreams…"_

_"Don't make fun of it" Emily said smiling a bit at her sister, who had teased her for the past three days (which was the time it had taken Emily to come up with this plan to get married to Naomi. She had woken up on a Tuesday morning missing Naomi way too much and when she'd looked at the date on her mobile she noticed what date Friday was and somehow it had all clicked. It was the perfect proposal, the perfect wedding…it was all the time she ever needed as she knew then for sure that she did not want to spend anymore time NOT being Naomi's wife any longer. This was their moment in time.)_

_"I am not, I think it's absolutely romantic…the way you proposed, the way it all came about…don't forget I am in the wedding planning business Ems…I can tell you for sure that the best weddings aren't the ones that involved doves and ice sculptures and swans, no matter how much of a big pay out they are to us...they are usually the ones that end up in a huge, ugly divorce"_

_"With a huge, ugly custody battle and alimony checks...heaven-forbid,that won't happen to us."_

_"Oh please...divorce? You two? I can't even believe you aren't already married...you practically started to have kids before you had even seen the shape of her fanny..."_

_"Jesuschrist Kay, why must you be so crude?" Emily said laughing, even though she knew that was very close to the truth...it still sounded absolutely wrong. _

_"Oh bitch please, you love me and you know it..." _

_"I do love your tacky arse, what can I say?" __Emily smiled at her sister, she was glad Katie was there and she took a breath and pretended that her mum's absence didn't completely break her heart and ruin the happiest day of her life completely._

_"Maybe she's not here today, but one day she'll get on board with this…you just gotta give her time." Katie said as she started to reapply her sister's make-up to get her ready for her wedding. "She'll come around…it's all gonna be alright?"_

_"You really think so?" Emily said still disillusioned about the entire thing. She really thought that by the time her and Naomi would marry her mum would be accepting of it all…after all she'd now been with her for almost seven years. Couldn't she see how much they loved each other?_

_"You shouldn't worry about it…even if mum never gets on board you and Naomi will always be fine." Katie said as she finished applying the eye shadow onto Emily again. _

_"You too are like the fluffiest, sappiest most cloyingly-annoying couple of lezzas on the face of the earth…if you two don't work out, what hope is there for the rest of us?"_

"I think it's about time you give up on this whole thing Katie…I think you've just about crossed the line with all this and now you just leave it up to them…"

"I won't...I am not gonna sit here and watch it all unfold while I know that I can do something to fix it…something to fix them." She said, now sounding a bit desperate…something that made Jenna really start to worry then.

"I don't get why you're so invested in this Katie…I know you love Liam and you want him not to suffer but if you keep on meddling in this entire thing you're just gonna make it worse. Stay out of it Katie"

"I won't…I need them to be okay…" All of a sudden, out of nowhere Katie's eyes started to water and tears started falling down her face involuntarily...something neither James nor Jenna had expected.

"Katie, what's going on? Why are you freaking out this much?" James asked as he approached her, trying to pull her into his arms but she pushed him away. "Look at you, you're friggin' crying."

"I am not" she said wiping a her tears and taking a breath to calm herself. "I am not freaking out…I am fine. I am fine and Emily and Naomi and Liam will be just fine too. They _gotta_ be fine, because if they aren't…if they can't work it out…what hope is there for the rest of us?"

She looked outside and Rob and Liam were almost at the door with Emily and Naomi trailing behind them and as she said her last words she felt her nephew run over to her and pull her into a hug as the rest of them walked in and started to have a seat.

"What is this for?" She said to Liam as he looked at her with the biggest smile she had ever seen. "You looked upset…I know you worry about what's going on with our plan but it's gonna be okay. We are gonna be fine Aunt Kay…I promise."

Despite the fact that she wasn't huge on hugging, she held on to her nephew for a minute and smiled at him and then looked over at her sister and Naomi who seemed to have mended their differences somehow and she sat down in her usual chair next to her daughter who was on the high-chair about to be fed by her mum.

On the other side of the room Rob went up to his grandson who had gone over to the kitchen to fetch a glass of juice and decided to remind him of his promise.

"Remember what we talked about before son…you said you were a vault."

"I haven't said a thing, granddad" He said smiling. "I just wanted her to stop worrying…I think from now on things are gonna start to be fine."

He looked out through the opening between the kitchen into the dining area where his mums were sitting next to one another laughing at something his uncle James had just said.

He served himself some juice and then went walking back while smiling, completely content with how things were starting to turn out. After all, his mums maybe have been arguing over the lighting before but suddenly they seemed just great and now his Uncle Cook was coming back…all seemed like it was getting back to normal. All seemed like it was going to be just fine. After all, with all the good things that were happening what else could possibly go wrong…right?

* * *

**Nothing else could go wrong, could it? Let me know what you think. Thanks for reading. Have a great Thrusday my peeps. :) **


	32. Chapter 32

**Hey you guys, sorry about not updating sooner...here's a bit of the story. Hope you enjoy it and let me know what you think. **

**This bit is kind of special because it's actually a bit of a request from our buddy SMCL who was actually the first one of you to guess that my naughty-knickers scene was inspired by one of garden-nomes' story "The Secret Life of Emily Fitch." I thought since she guessed it so fast she got a prize, so she picked one of the references in this chapter. Hope you like it, S... I tried my best to include it but it was hard...trust me, I've been thinking about it for a bit. Hope it's up to par. Lemme know what you think. **

**Besides that, just a reminder that our characters (except for three now) belong to Skins, the story IS mine and so are the mistakes. No beta here. Have a nice Monday, my beauties...here's number...32...**

* * *

_32_

"Jealousy"

"What…jealousy…that's the best you could come up with? Do you think that we haven't thought about it before?…that we haven't spent almost 3-days trying to plan all this! You made us come all the way here and best and most ingenious plan you could come up was giving them jealousy?"

"Aunt Kay…"

"No Liam, don't get involved…"

Katie wasn't very pleased about having been dragged half way from Glasgow to Edinburgh to meet with his brother's awful excuse for a girlfriend; someone she wasn't very fond of…at all…

"Would you just let me at least explain the plan Katie-kats? Give me a chance to run through it and then you can yell out the top of your lungs how idiotic I and everyone else in the world that doesn't adhere to your brilliant plans are…"

"Hey" Katie said pointing at a scowling Bridget who was sitting in front of her with Liam on the table right next to her. They were in the pub that was owned by one of Bridget cousin's Rex while trying to come up with a better plan to get Emily and Naomi back. "Don't call me Katie-kats…you know I _hate_ when they call me that."

"Alright…I'll stop calling you that..._you don't have be a fucking cunt about it, Jesus_" Bridget said between her teeth rolling her eyes a bit as Katie very elegantly folded a cloth napkin and cleaned her tips of her mouth with very lightly as she ate.

Katie wanted to say something but she was starting to notice how nervous Liam had started to get all of a sudden by their passive-aggressive banter she'd been having since they'd arrived.

"Thank you…now go on telling me about this whole _brilliant_ plan that you had come up with according to James and how this involves jealousy, because I don't think that bringing either Sophia or that…that secretary…what's her name babes?" She said turning to Liam who immediately started to look uncomfortable.

"Mandy" Liam said a bit sad at the mention of that woman he hated so much.

"That one…that Mandy…I don't know that bringing them up would do these any good…"

"I am not talking about Mandy or Sophia…I am talking about someone totally different…someone neither Naomi nor Emily was expecting to see ever again."

"Someone like who?" Katie said a bit intrigued

"Hey, sorry I am late guys…"

"What the heck took you song long, babes..." Bridget moved over to give James a bit more space on the table and then gave him a tiny kiss on the lips.

"You said you'd be back in 20 minutes…we waited to order for almost an hour…I am starving, I'd hardly eaten." Katie grimaced as she ate away at her plate while James moved his hands and tried stealing a bit of food from it and she hit him on the palm of his hand.

"I dropped off the catering order for the ceremony in that place you sent me to and then I had a little bit of a problem with mum's car so I decided to go all the way back to the house and borrow Dad's…"

"And _that_ took you almost two hours to do?"

"Well…I got distracted"

_"__Dad…mum...anyone home?" _

_James was way too distracted and way too exhausted from driving around all over town setting up catering and flowering arrangement orders for his parent's wedding vow ceremony that was going to be happening in around 36 hours to notice all the lights were off in the house and it seemed like no one was home. _

_"__Emily….Naomi…" He sighed, feeling extremely exhausted and annoyed at having to come back all the way to the house to borrow his dad's car since his mum's was giving him a bit of trouble earlier (probably from running it around so much, his mum hardly drove so the car spent more time collecting dust than it did actually being driven)_

_He walked in the kitchen as he heard a noise and was trying to turn on a light when he turned around and smashed right into his sister as they both almost fell on the floor. _

_"__Ems, what the fuck?" He said moving up to grab on to the wall and turn on the light switch. "What in God's name are you doing in the kitchen without the lights off and in….your knickers?" He said scrunching his face as a sign of both surprise and a bit of embarrassment. _

_"__Shit…yea…I am sorry…I just…I was, you know…asleep…but then I got…I got a little hungry...came down for a snack" She said smiling cheekily to herself as James threat his eyebrows and looked confused. _

_"__A snack?" He said grabbing on to the stuff that Emily had set aside on the kitchen island right nearby the fridge. "Strawberries, whipped cream, chocolate syrup and…custard? What are you gonna bake yourself a cake upstairs or something?" he said laughing. _

_"__Cake" she said looking at some samples of cake's she baked for he mum earlier so she could pick the right kind she and Katie wanted. _

_"__Here, you could have some…you look hungry" She said taking one a huge square of chocolate cake and stuffing it in his mouth in order to distract him. _

_"__Mmmm…this is fucking amazing…how do you make it so moist? Jesus…I am so hungry…" James said as he started to pick up a couple of more piece of cake of distraction cake from the platter and stuffed it in his mouth while Emily took her own items and turned off the kitchen light and started heading toward the bedroom rapidly. She knew she had to move fast if she wanted to avoid questions. _

_"__Hey…hey…hold on…I didn't come here to eat cake…I came here looking or Dad or for Naomi..." He said walking rapidly past Emily(who was being careful not to let her 'snack' foods fall on the floor) up the stairs right in front of Naomi's room. _

_"__She's…um…she isn't in there…" Emily said a walking up rapidly and getting in front of the door so he wouldn't go in; making the tub of strawberries tumble right out of her hands and into the floor where James started to help her out with them. _

_"__She's in….ummm…she's sleeping…"_

_"__Sleeping?" James said a bit confused as he took a strawberry and dipped it in the custard and started to eat it. "Thought you said she wasn't there…is she out?"_

_"__She's not out, she's just…not there …in her room…I meant, she's not sleeping in her room because…I ummm…her…the, the mattress…the blow-up mattress we got her the other day is a complete piece of rubbish…can you imagine the darn thing? She went to sleep on it now and within two minutes she was right on hard, cold floor" Emily said with a nervous laugh trying very hard for her brother not to even look at her when she was talking. _

_"__So where is she then?" He asked a bit curious. _

_"__Where?" Emily said trying to come up with a fast and logical answer. "My…I mean…our…our room, Liam and Naomi and I's room. The room we share." _

_"__Shared, because Liam has been sleeping in mine every night…I think he's like on mission 17 on Call of Duty already..."_

_"__Yea, but you know what I mean…my room…our room. Point is, she's sleeping…she's fast asleep and we shan't disturb her…" _

_"__Right" He said looking at her, noticing how she had gone from a bit pink to full on red cheeks and he pressed his lips to stop from smiling. "So now you're sleeping together…"_

_"__Nou!" Emily said immediately. "Not…well…yea, we are sleeping together if you mean like sleeping in the same bed together then yes…but only for tonight since she's very exhausted and she just needed to go to bed…and she needed to rest, I'd be cruel to let her sleep on the floor having an entire bed…"_

_"__Of course, so you went to bed together…rather early, but it HAS been quite a long day…"_

_"__It has" Emily agreed, looking a bit nervous at the door a few times thinking that maybe Naomi was wondering what was going on with her. Maybe she needed a blanket or something…in the position she'd left her. _

_ "__But then you…" James said finally smiling. "You got hungry…"_

_"__You know how I am about skipping meals and Mum and Dad left with Hanna to Aunt Rosie's and Naomi and I didn't have dinner…we finished the entire set up, except those chairs and then we just went to bed…each of us…in our own room…separately…."_

_"__But now you're back together?" _

_"__What…not we aren't…" _

_"__I mean, sleeping…together…sharing the bedroom…"_

_"__Yea"_

_"__And then you went for a snack…"_

_"__Yes…"_

_"__A pre-slumber snack…because you were tired…"_

_"__Oh yea…so tired" Emily said emulating a yawn and pretending she was tired. _

_"__Alright…" James said turning around after stealing another strawberry and then looking into the room and looking back at his sister and smiling. _

_"__Wait…Jamesy…" _

_"__Yea?" he said still chewing on his strawberry. _

_"__Did you need something?…from Naomi I mean…" _

_"__No, I am good…" he said still walking away from her sister and heading back out toward his mum's car. _

_"__So no message for her then…when she wakes, I mean?" Emily said nervously, as she suspected maybe James was on to them. _

_"__None…just let enjoy her "_sleep"_…she must be really-really "_tired"_ if she is fast asleep at half past six. I think that's like half an hour before Hanna goes to bed…but whatever….to each their own…." _

"So I had to stop at like three different Petrol stations and wait until the darn car cooled down a bit before turning it back on. It's a real pain the arse, I am gonna have to get this thing fixed for her before I leave for the base on Sunday."

"Oh" Bridget said as she took her boyfriend by the arm and then held on to him. She hated talking about him having to go back to Afghanistan again but as this wasn't a topic she wanted to discuss in front of his (mean-arse elder sister) and nephew, she kissed him on the cheek and remained talking.

"Thought you said you had gone back home to borrow Dad's car so you didn't have to drive your mum's all the way up here" Bridget went on, catching on to a look he gave her…almost trying for her to change the subject but it was too late.

"Yea, but Dad wasn't there…he took mum and Hanna to see Aunt Rosie. She invited them to dinner or something."

"You should've borrowed mummy's car then, we had it checked before driving up here…it's in top condition" Liam interrupted as he had been quietly chewing at his hamburger with so much trimmings that was almost as big as his face.

"Right, I went to ask her but I couldn't….Naomi wasn't available…"

"What? Why?" Katie said immediately. "Did they have a fight again or something?"

"No, there was no fight…Naomi was sleeping"

"Sleeping?" Katie said looking at her mobile's clock. "Before Hanna?"

_James thought for a minute after he had walked downstairs, getting ready to leave the house…what Emily had revealed to him (not clearly, but through her actions mostly) made him smile a bit and he needed to get out of there as fast as he could so that they could have their own space. _

_"__Jamesy" Emily called out to her brother, after dropping the 'snack' foods on a nearby table on the hallway she walked right behind him to stop him from leaving. _

_"__Listen, bro…there's something that I gotta explain…" Emily started to explain it all, she knew she couldn't just James leave the house with what he had seen…she knew how fast he was at blabbering everything he saw and heard to Katie and their mum. She needed to act rapidly. _

_"__Ems" he said turning around, taking her hand onto his and looking at her straight in the eyes. "There's nothing to explain, alright? I got it" _

_He kissed her on the cheek and turned around to walk away, but Emily wasn't allowing it. She'd been guarding this secret too long to let James ruin it for her. _

_"__James, you mustn't tell anyone…"_

_"__I know sis…no worries, okay?" He said looking up at the top of the stairs toward their bedroom. "If you are worried about me telling Katie or Liam or mum…I won't…"_

_"__We're only just talking about it…just working stuff out…"_

_"__Working stuff out with some custard and strawberries and chocolate syrup involved…guess it makes sense…" he said placing a bit of custard he had on his finger on top of her nose and laughing. _

_"__What does?" she said laughing as she wiped her nose. _

_"__You always did that, bake or cook or make something go away Katie and I call it distraction cake."_

_"__Distraction cake? I don't make cake every time I wanna make a distraction"_

_"__Sure you do…but like, it's not just cake…it's all kind of baked goods...as soon as you learned to make them started to do that…you used to bake us forgive-me cupcakes, get-well brownies...all kinds of really yummy goods you'd bake to distract from awkward, odd, painful situations…amongst others" He said laughing at her, both knowing very well what he was referring to._

_Emily laughed and rolled her eyes at her brother remembering when Emily had baked an entire 3-tier cake with fondant and all the trimmings for her parents on the day she decided to finally come out to them as a lesbian. That day hadn't gone so well since she had just left Freddy standing in a room full of people (with a ring in his hand asking her to marry him)and ran away for a couple of days. _

_When she'd come back, her parents had gone to church and she snuck back in and backed them a recipe that her grandma Louise (her mum's mother) had taught her to make. It was an amazingly delicious cake, but it definitely did not make up for what she was about to reveal to them next. _

_So Emily did what she knew what to do best, she baked as it was the only way (in her mind) to make up for the heart-break she was about to cause them. During those times she was so alone, so lonely…since even Katie (who had taken her a bit of time, but had finally given in and understood) had abandoned her. She was all alone, with her truth, her courage and a piece of delicious cake. _

_During that time James was the still the little creeper/pervert they all loved-to-hate so his reaction was teasing his sister about her methods of distracting her parents from the discussion they were gonna have that evening. He basically had a blast with the entire thing, thought it was the most hilarious thing in the world and even went on to tease his sister with suggestions on other types of dessert's she may have prepared her parent's that could've made a better impression… "The I am a muff-muncher muffins"… "The I am gay as a window gateau"…and "The I like to eat fanny flan-y"…all so amusing for James who was then nothing more than a testosterone-driven buffoon with too much time in his hands. _

_"__You're an idiot" Emily said a she punched her brother on the shoulder lightly and then pulled him with her hands and kissed him on the cheeks. _

_He pulled her back in and hugged his favorite sister, though of course he loved his elder sister Katie, but between Emily and him there was always a lot more of an understanding than there was between some of the other Fitches…somehow, for some reason Emily was always on his side. Well…almost always. _

_"__What was that for?" She said pushing him away and smiling at him, a bit surprised. "Now you're getting sentimental on me or…nooooo…Jamesy!…" She said looking down at herself and noticing she was still wearing nothing more than her knickers and a really long shirt. _

_"__Hey…hey…no…no….nouuuu" he said figuring out what she might be thinking. "No, I'd never…I've outgrown that phase, trust me…"_

_"__Jesus…you scaring me for a bit…what's with all the hugging then?" _

_"__That was for trying…for not giving up…and for being smart enough to try it once more with Naomi and am I glad for that! She's the only other one in this God-forsaken house that roots for Chelsea, bruv"_

"Hey, Uncle James…check out who's losing tonight" Liam said pointing at a TV showing the footie game he had been paying attention to while his Aunt Katie and Bridget talked about what they had denominated as 'girl talk' after sending Liam out to watch the game with Bridget's cousin Rex and some other kids.

"You wish" James said rubbing Liam's balding head and pushing him a bit and then walking over with a couple of cider in his hands to continue the conversation.

"So jelousy, huh?" James continued as he caught his girlfriend and sister well into a hush-hush conversation about what they were planning on doing to get Naomi and Emily back together. "I don't know…I am starting to think maybe we _should_ leave them alone…Let 'em work it out"

"Hush babes, Katie and I…we've come up with the perfect plan." Bridget smacked James on the arm so he was quiet while Katie started to speak.

"At first I wasn't too sure about it, but now that I hear it more and more I think it's perfect…I hate to say it, you know I do…but my plan was complete rubbish compare to this, here...behold the new Queen of Pure Evil...Ms. Bridget Wilson" Katie made a big fuss while pulling up her glass as Bridget bowed and pretended to thank the imaginary public, cheering her on. Somewhere between drinks, appetizers and some evil-plan strategics Bridget and Katie had become the best of mates.

"You should marry this one" Katie said to her brother as she took another sip of her drink…I think this one is a keeper, Captain Worm-ingsworth"

James rolled his eyes at one of the many nicknames Katie loved calling him ever since he could remember and he thought about just telling them about what he had seen at the house just a couple of hours before but something was stopping him.

It was Emily's hopeful eyes, the blush in her cheeks, the smile she'd been sporting for the past few days which he had noticed but couldn't understand when it had come from and why it had changed. They all thought he didn't notice these things, which he didn't care. And it wasn't that he didn't. Of course he cared, just because he wasn't emotional and soulful like Emily or as loud and dramatic like Katie did not mean he didn't have feelings or was incapable of understanding what they were all going through.

He looked up from the table where Liam was sitting with Rex and a few other chaps his age enjoying the game and yelling at the TV and he smiled and thought it was better to just keep the promise to his sister and stay quiet. So he looked back at Katie who was still looking at him with a questioning face and then at his girlfriend who seemed to be asking him something.

"So you think that's a good idea, babes?" Bridget said suddenly, not allowing James to catch up on what she was actually saying.

"What's a good idea?" He said a bit out of it and then took another sip of his drink.

"Cassie…" Bridget repeated, a bit upset at seeing that he hadn't been listening to them both very well.

"Cassie?" He said confused. "Your cousin Cassie? What about her?"

"Bridget thinks she should come sing lead with Rex's band for the rehearsals tomorrow…since I hired them for the ceremony."

"What…for Cassie…your cousin Cassie to sing at the ceremony? With Naomi there? Are you fucking kidding me, Emily will have heart attack…she'll flip out…" James said a bit worried.

"I know" Katie curled her eyebrow up and looked at Bridget whose face had turned to something very similar to the same face The Grinch makes right before he steals Christmas.

"Oh…no…fuck…you two…you are…like…_pure evil_…"

"Not evil babes" Bridget said looking at Katie and laughing cheekily while they both took a sip of their drinks together.

"It's the jealousy factor; It's the only way we get this to work. Trust us, it works every time."

* * *

**Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think...you think Naomily will buy into this "jealousy factor?" **


	33. Chapter 33

**Wow, so it's been a bit since I updated. I was having major writer's block with this chapter. I can tell you that I've been feeling guilty as hell for not updating for a month (and several of my friends can tell you I have been moany enough to annoy the shit out of them about it)**

**So I am not gonna say much except to thank my beautiful, wonderful, amazing muse that helps me figure this out when I need it. You guys don't know this but this story is actually for her, even if I deny it...all of this...every single bit of emotion that is poured into these words, every moment, every word...all of that is for her, no matter how things are with us. It's always all for her. **

**_Si pudiera dártelo todo lo haría, espero que por ahora te baste solo con mis palabras. _**

**So as always, I've got no beta; mistakes are mine. Characters (except Liam, Bridget and Hanna) belong to Skins and of course, the story is mine...Here it is, number 33. Let me know what you think. **

* * *

_33_

There was only one more day left until the wedding vow ceremony and the pressure inside the Fitch household was evident, as not just the entire family but also a few guests and some service people were now roaming around the house trying to get all things together just in time for the celebration the following evening.

"I can't stand these many people in my kitchen…everyone out. OUT!"

Surprisingly enough, though Emily was usually one of the calmer one of the Fitches when it came to deadlines and even more so, when it came to her art (her cakes) Emily became a little bit neurotic and high-strung…a little bit too 'Katie-like' for everyone else's liking. All of a sudden she started throwing everyone out of the kitchen so they could let her work.

"Is that including me too?"

The voice of Naomi, along with the touch of her hands slowly traveling along the sides of her body while she placed small kisses on the side of her neck startled her.

"Shit" Naomi said feeling Emily's hands push her back and then immediately pull her forward toward her as she realized what she had just done.

"I am sorry...I am sorry...not you..." Emily held on to Naomi's waist and pull her toward her.

"I didn't mean to scare you, I've been waiting for you to answer the last text I sent you…"

"Oh, your text...yea..." Emily laughed and pulled Naomi's face toward her and kissed her softly, her hands leaving flour marks all over her ex-wife's cheeks.

"I am sorry I've got busy, I sent James and Liam out to buy me some extra stuff over an hour ago and they still haven't come back...look at the time" She said looking up at the kitchen clock while Naomi move behind her and helped her stir up some chocolate in a bowl that Emily picked up.

"Slower" Emily told her, taking Naomi's hand making her slow down the stirring while they both looked at each other smiling. "You don't wanna go so fast, if you stir too fast it causes air bubbles"

"Is that bad thing?" Naomi asked still looking straight into Emily's eyes while they both stirred the chocolate together, Naomi moving closer and closer to Emily almost about to steal a kiss from her. "the air bubbles?"

"Very bad" Emily answered in a whisper of a voice as she was almost about to kiss her. "Air bubbles can make everything lumpy and oily and when it cools the chocolate will start to crack. That's why it's better if you do it like this…slow with steady strokes…"

"Like this?" Naomi said, imitating what Emily was doing.

"Slowed than that" Emily answered her. "If we don't do it correctly it may just ruin the entire thing."

"We definitely don't wanna ruin it…" Naomi said kissing Emily's neck a bit as then biting her ear a bit. "We want it to come out perfect…"

"Then you gotta go nice and slow…really…really slow…"

_"__What took you so long?"_

_Emily walked into the room they'd been sharing for the last few days with both her arms so full of goodies and found Naomi looking very uncomfortable position on top of the bed. _

_"__I really gotta wizz, baby" Naomi complained as she moved around uncomfortably._

__Emily laughed as she placed the items down on a table right nearby and ran over toward Naomi, sitting on top of her and letting go of her as the blonde almost pushed her away and ran over toward the loo.__

_"__Two more minutes like this and I may have just ruined this entire thing for the both of us...gone all over the bed."_

_"__Right because you telling me THAT didn't ruin the mood at all" Emily said laughing listening to her ex-wife almost moaning in relief. She really really had been holding it for way too long._

_"__What did you go out to the store to pick all that up? I thought you said you had bought more than enough stuff for the cake" Naomi said finishing up and washing her hands as then walking over toward Emily who was sitting on the end of the bed just looking into space as she waited. _

_"__James showed up all of a sudden, I was in the kitchen and he caught me stocking up and pretty much interrogated me about it…And so I had to tell him everything…"_

_"__You told him everything? You mean about us?" _

_Emily nodded, still looking down to the floor as Naomi moved her face up to look at her and then kissed her slowly. _

_"__And you're okay about that?" Naomi asked a bit concerned with seeing Emily's concerned face._

_"__He promised he wouldn't say anything…I hope he really doesn't"_

_Naomi smiled, though Emily didn't look too happy about having to reveal their secret to James, it made Naomi feel more at ease for some reason. As if another person knowing would eventually allow Emily feel comfortable enough to just reveal this to everyone else in the family and stop all this hiding._

_She was growing tired of hiding. Sometimes she wasn't even sure why they were really hiding it all._

_Though she did have to admit, the entire 'secret affair' with her ex-wife did add a little spice to the entire ordeal, she'd much rather be able to just act naturally, to be back to who they were before this entire thing had started. To go back to normal and recapture their happy life together. _

_She just wanted her life back._

_"__He won't…he's not that blabbering tosser he used to be when I first met him." Naomi said laughing at remembering the craziness that was her ex brother-in-law years before…and how much he'd changed in the last few years. How much he'd grown up. _

_"__Come on, let's forget about James and let's get back to business, yea?" _

_"__Business?" Emily said a bit lost in her own thoughts. _

_Naomi smiled and looked toward the bed and bit her lip making Emily smile again._

_"__Oh yea, business…of course…" Emily grabbed Naomi's face catching her lips into a kiss and moved on top of her. _

_"__This business?" Emily said kissing Naomi fiercely, feeling the blonde's hands exploring her way down her body, ending up with her hands underneath her knickers. _

_"__Why do you still have these on? Weren't you wearing no knickers when we were back in the shed this morning?"_

_"__I waited for you for an hour but you never came so I took a short shower, after all that work…I was feeling so…so dirty…"_

_"__So when you texted me telling me you were feeling dirty, you actually meant dirty…not like…dirty-dirty…"_

_"__No, you read it right…" Emily laughed as Naomi start to pull them off and Emily held her arms back on top of her head. "I am still feeling dirty-dirty"_

_"__Is that so?" Naomi moved swiftly to free herself from Emily' s hold, moving on top of her. "Great, because dirty-Emily is my favorite kind of Emily..." _

_Naomi moved on top of her an started to bite and kiss and tickle her all over and Emily started shrieking. _

_"__Stop…Naomi" Emily yelled as Naomi continued to tickle and bite her. _

_"__Naomiiiii" _

_But Naomi couldn't stop doing it, she was enjoy this way too much. Emily was laughing loudly, they both were…they were enjoying each other the same way they always had when they were together. _

_It was absolute magic. _

_It was one of those moments she dreamt about having when she was living all alone, so far away from her family that she felt like she was never gonna be able to get them back. Now she was here, and though things weren't perfect…this moment was perfect. _

_T__his moment of happiness that she would've once paid millions to re-live once again, was now happening…it was all happening again. She had Emily and soon she'd have Liam and her rest of her family back. She loved it all, she loved all of them and she'd missed them all like crazy. _

_She wasn't consciously thinking it all, but deep inside she knew that she would never allow anything to get in the way of all this happiness. She'd never allow anything or anyone taking this away from her._

_"__Beep…beep"_

_"__Ugh…that phone has been sounding like every two minutes, dunno if it's yours or mine but I swear if I wouldn't have been…you know…indisposed I would've fucking thrown them both out the window already." _

_"__Beep…beep"_

_Naomi looked up at the sound of yet another text message coming in. It's been annoying the shit out of her the entire time she was waiting for Emily but of course, she wasn't really in a position to be able to do anything about it. _

_"__Beep…beep…"_

_"__Jesus" Naomi said moving off of Emily, looking annoyed at having to stop their happy moment to check the phone. _

_"__Let me…that's that new phone Liam got for me for my birthday. God forbid you throw that thing out the window, I think he's waiting another month to make up an excuse as to why he should switch phones with me so he could keep it himself." Emily said laughing and immediately walked over toward the clothes they had left on the floor before and took both phones into her hands and started looking. _

_"__Beep…beep"_

_"__If it's Gina, I swear to God…"_

_"__It's not Gina" Emily said looking at her own phone with a bit of a worried face. "It's my phone"_

_"__Oh" Naomi said watching as Emily turned around into the wardrobe, turning off her phone and putting them down nearby. When she turned back around her face was completely different. _

_"__What happened?" Naomi immediately noticed the change in her ex-wife's face. _

_"__Nothing…Dad wanted us to know they are heading back earlier because Hanna fell asleep" _

_"__Oh okay" Naomi watched as the little brunette walked over toward her, with a grim face and sat on the bed next to her. "I reckon our play time is cancelled, then…"_

_"__Yup" Emily answered without looking into Naomi's eyes. Naomi watched her for a minute and then she moved back and pulled Emily toward her, sitting against the headrest. _

_"__Hey, it's okay…we'll do this another time…we could do this every single night if you want to…once we get back to Bristol." _

_Emily looked up immediately at her, Naomi's were so full of hope she couldn't help but feel a lump in her throat from the thought of it all. She hadn't thought about what would happen when they'd get back to Bristol. _

_They'd talked about kids, and travelling…about most anything, except going back to Bristol; going back to normal, to their home, to their life…_

_She wasn't sure if talking about it was a good idea. Talking about their reality might just make their little "love-bubble" burst. _

_"__Right" Emily said a bit worried. "Bristol" _

_"__I know we haven't talked about it, because you still don't want Liam to know…but once we are back home it'd be a lot easier, you'll see." Naomi said as she held her ex-wife tighter into her, caressing her face with her fingers and kissing her from time to time. She hated to see her so worried. _

_"__It's gonna be okay" Naomi whispered, moving a bit closer to Emily and wrapping her around her. "We're gonna be just fine…don't look so worried…" _

"Hey, what with that face bruv? You look like someone just bursted your bubble or something."

"Do you think mum is acting weird?" Liam said as they were walking through the aisles at the supermarket picking up things from the list that Emily had given them.

"Emily or Naomi?"

"Mama" he said picking up several bags of almonds and putting them on the trolley.

"Not particularly, not more than usual…why? Have you noticed something?" James said worried, well knowing that both Emily and Naomi were definitely acting weird…but of course he knew exactly why. The thing was, Liam wasn't really supposed to know…

"You know when Gram and I were helping her set up everything for the cake, before we left she kept texting someone…she's been texting a lot hasn't she? Which is weird because she hates texting…"

"Does she?"

"Yea, she hates it when I text her...she keeps on making me call her for everything, saying she like to her the sound of her son's voice. She says I spent enough time with my head buried on my phone as is. She calls me a phone zombie"

_"__OK, what the fuck was that?" Bridget said as she stood right next to Katie watching as her cousin Cassie tried her best to keep a conversation up with Naomi, very unsuccessfully._

_Naomi and Cassie had met a few years before when James had first introduced his girlfriend to the entire family. As soon as they had met, Naomi (as well as Cook, Liam and even Rob) had becoming completely enchanted by Cassie for some reason_

_And Emily hated that. Emily and Katie and even Jenna hated Cassie's guts to the point where they had threatned James of not inviting him to any more family stuff if Cassie tagged along with Bridget. _

_For some reason that skinny, air-headed girl was completely enchanting and Emily hated it because it was the first time in her entire life with Naomi that she had seen her wife drool over another girl. _

_For some reason, Naomi really got along with Cassie...they both liked the same music (the were both crazy about Oasis) and the three or four times that Cassie had seen Naomi it was as if they were in a little bubble together, chatting with each other as if Emily was completely invisible. _

_She fucking despised that blonde bitch. _

_"__Did she just? Did she just completely ignore her?" Katie said in complete awe. She couldn't believe what she was seeing._

_Bridget and her had been planning their little evil plan to get Naomi drooling over her cousin Cassie just as she had done ever since she'd met her, but apparently their plan had backfired. _

_For some reason Naomi was more preoccupied with looking at her phone than about talking to Cassie. _

_"__No, no…that can't be? Why did she ignore her? She wasn't supposed to ignore her? She wasn't even paying attention to her…"_

_"__She was on the fucking phone the entire time...what? texting? Was she texting? Who the fuck would she be texting? I thought you said Cassie was gonna flirt with her!" Katie said frustrated, pushing Bridget to one side making her brother's girlfriend almost fall to one side. _

_"__She was…" Bridget pushed back and they looked at each other almost as if they were about to beat each other to pieces. "Cassie was in on the plan. She was helping us…what the fuck!"_

_"__Wow" Cassie said with her annoyingly innocent voice and beady eyes. "Naomi is like...a phone zombie or something...that was kinda rude" _

_"__Rude? She was rude, was she you mong?" Katie stepped over toward the tall blonde to start something, but she felt Bridget grab her by the arm._

_"__You gonna make a scene about this now, really smart move Katiekats..."_

_"__I said don't fucking call me that, bitch…do you fucking understand me?" Katie said through her teeth. She was starting to lose her temper. _

_"__What are you gonna beat me up too? Really smart, beat Cassie up, then beat me up right in front of your entire family and then explain to everyone that you went insane because my cousin didn't FLIRT well enough with your sister-in-law so that she could cause your sister some jealousy...'cause that doesn't sound completely mental...at all."_

_Katie stopped for a second and looked over toward Cassie who was caught looking like she was trying to catch an imaginary butterfly into an imaginary nest with her mind. She rolled her eyes in frustration._

_"__Fucks sake…this was useless…fucking useless…" _

"And I took her phone because I needed to find out what is going on, but she put a passcode on it…been trying to figure it out for the past 15 minutes but it's useless…completely useless. I've tried everything, my birthday, her birthday...mummy's birthday..."

"Liam! Are you effing kidding?…you know what your mum is gonna do if she finds out you've trying to hack into her phone...Give it here…" James said taking the phone from his nephew and putting in his pocket.

"You're worried over nothing, alright? You know Emily is useless with her phone. She probably just spent all day trying to set up her email on it or something…no worries…"

_"__Shit" Emily said as she saw the entire bowl of chocolate fall out of their hands on to the floor. _

_Naomi started to laugh as Emily started to freak out a bit. "Why are you laughing? You know that was special cocoa I had brought in from Brazil…I can't just send Liam and James out for more at Tesco…for fucks sake."_

_Emily grabbed a bunch of rags and started to try cleaning the mess they had just made while Emily kept on freaking out._

_"__Babe…baby…" Naomi said as she pulled Emily around to look at her. "It's gonna be okay? I know it's your special chocolate and maybe we can't get any more of it now, but we can call the boys and ask them to bring you some other type and it'll be just fine with it…your cakes are so amazing that no one will notice if they are done with your special kind of imported Brazilian chocolate or not…"_

_"__I will notice" Emily complained as Naomi looked at her in the eyes and wiped a bit of chocolate that was on her face. _

_"__Did I ever tell you that you look absolutely adorable when you pout?" Naomi placing her forehead against Emily's._

_Emily shook her head and pouted a bit more._

_"__Well you do you" Naomi said kissing her a bit. "Now let's call the boys so that they can pick up some extra chocolate before they come back home…I don't have James' new number…where is your phone? I'll call him."_

_"__I dunno" Emily said looking around the kitchen. "You know I usually take out of my pockets when I'm dealing with food so that it doesn't get accidentally baked into something…so I asked Liam to take out of my pocket before and…" _

_"__You asked Liam to take it?"_

"Where's Liam?" Naomi said as she saw James walking into the house with a bunch of bags in his hands. "Wasn't he with you?"

"He's out in the car fighting with Dad because he wants to help us bring the grocery bags inside the house…and you know he can't be lifting too much weight…"

"Right" Naomi said very worried…"I'm gonna go help, but like…yea…ok…I'll go help them…"

"Naoms" James said putting down the bags on the floor. "You looked a little freaked out..."

"What…me…no…I am not, I am not worried I just…you know, all these parties and events just drive me a bit insane…I think I just need a little rest...that's all"

James looked at her and smiled. "So I am guessing you aren't freaked out because of this, then?" He said giving her Emily's phone.

"Jesus, where did you…"

"Took it from Liam...he showed it to me, was trying to get me to help him hack into it…he couldn't figure out the passcode…"

Naomi took the phone into her hand and swiped in and entered the password…

_Wonderwall._

She smiled at seeing Emily hadn't changed it, for some reason that made her smiled widely at remembering when she started using it and why.

_"So you're changing your password to that?"_

_"Yea, why not...it's easy to remember, you know how I am with remembering shit. I'd misplace my head if it wasn't' attached."_

_"Yea, but Wonderwall...I dunno baby, I am kinda starting to hate that word...that song too..."_

_"You will never hate that song, it's a good song. Those definitions we found online are bollocks.. to each person it means something different...To Oasis and everyone else in the world, Wonderwall may be something disgustingly sexual or drug-related or just a made up word that just sounded good to Liam Gallagher but to us...to you and I i__t means something beautiful."_

_"__Does it?"_

_"__To me it does…it means this we have between us…it means our love…our love is a Wonderwall..." _

_"Our Wonderwall" _Emily said pointing at the space between them, a space that was cause by her baby's belly, a space that united them both. __"Nobody is ever gonna take that away from us...so don't ever say you hate that word or the song again, okay?____

____Naomi sat there trying not to smile at watching her girlfriend's face when she said that. She was looking a little pouty about Naomi saying she was gonna stop singing the song to her and the baby. Naomi had gotten upset for no reason at the fact that the baby might not be able to hear her inside the womb like she hoped. But as she looked at Emily's face she knew why she did things like that. She realized that even if the baby could not physically hear her singing this song, he could definitely feel her.____

____"Okay"_____Naomi smiled as she moved over and hugged her girlfriend into her. She loved her so much._

_"You are surprisingly mushy" Naomi teased her a bit as Emily smacked her on the shoulder and started to laugh. _

_____This was the first time Emily was telling her something like that, she always shied away from all these things…but this time the words were coming straight from her heart and though she had been wanting something like this from Emily for so many months, she couldn't help but tease her about it._____

_____"Oh please, if anyone is mushy in this relationship is you...singing to my belly every night so that the baby falls asleep...you're practically a walking marshmallow Naomi Campbell..."_____

_____"It's a good thing you're a pastry chef, then...you like it when I am this sweet."_____

_____"And you don't?" _____

_____"Actually, I prefer dirty-Emily...sweet-mushy-Emily is great but dirty-Emily is my favorite kind of Emily"_____

_____Emily smiled and pulled Naomi on top of her and started to kiss her. "Well I hope you like hungry Emily, because the baby is craving..."_____

_____"Please don't say Fish tacos..."_____

_____"Chocolate..."_____

_"_Hey mummy, look we got the chocolate mama wanted...see...Brazilian chocolate" Liam said as he held out the package to Naomi's face and then kissed her on the cheek. "This means Mama won't kill you for ruining the cake"

"Don't look so worried..everything is gonna be just fine." Liam said walking past his uncle and mum and walking around over to the kitchen to show Emily what he had found.

"He didn't see anything, he still doesn't know, alright? Crisis averted" James said placing a comforting hand on his sister-in-law's shoulder.

"Thank God" Naomi said with a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Jamesy..." She said kissing him on the cheek. "Emily was starting to freak out when we realized he had the phone..."

"I think she will freak out even more if I don't get the rest of this darn chocolate to her soon, she sounded pretty mad over the phone…so I am off. I trust you'll get _this_ back to her safely." He said pointing at the phone.

"Of course" Naomi said to James as he started to walk away she took the phone in her hand and took a deep breath. She thought back at how nervous Emily had gotten when she thought Liam had her phone...she was almost about to lose it.

"Crisis averted...we are okay...we're fine..." Naomi said to herself as she looked through the text messages she had been sending back and forth with Emily all day. She looked through them all, the pictures, the cheeky messages, the loving words and she smiled for a moment because she finally felt like all was gonna be okay.

"We're gonna be just fine"

She knew that even though she wanted to rush it all, she really just needed to take things slowly and let Emily calm down. She finally understood why Emily was so freaked out about Liam finding out. She finally understood that they definitely need to take this slow and treat it with care. She didn't want her eagerness and impatience to burst this bubble one more time.

"I just need to give her time..." She said as she kept on deleted the last bit of messages off her phone, she smiled because she knew all was gonna be well. Or at least that's what she thought.

"Beep…beep…"

A new text message came in while she was about to delete the last text she sent Emily and when she went to exit out of it she opened it the new one by mistake and that's when she saw it.

_"__So that's how its gonna be then Em? You're just gonna ignore me and hope it all goes away? I can't give you anymore time, Em. Your time is up." _

It was from Mandy.

* * *

_**Does anyone smell an ogre nearby, cause I do...anyway, review and let me know what you think. Thanks so much for reading! :) **_


	34. Chapter 34

_Hello again, everybody...It's me once again apologizing for taking so long to update and I wish I could tell you I was just being lazy or too busy but the truth was that I have been going through some really really horrible medical issues that have prevented me from not only writing but doing pretty much everything and anything you could possibly think of. And of course those of you who know me well know what I've been through so this is for those who don't..._

_I want to thank you for loving this story as much as as you have and for following it even through my long absences and my posting other stories (that some of you haven't particularly been fond of...I absolutely adore all of you who told me to stop writing Naomi, the bitch because you loved this (nicer, fluffier, more loyal) Naomi a lot more. I thought it was the sweetest thing ever. I'll probably continue that one soon regardless, but your reaction made me laugh so much. _

_Anyway. I don't wanna write a book on my AN like most of us (writers) do and I don't wanna spoil the next chapter so instead of rambling on (like I often do, don't I, Waterbug?) I am just gonna leave you with chapter 34...of course your comments are welcomed and loved and completely appreciated (as they cheer me up and help me write when I really almost physically unable to do so)_

_This chapter is completely unbeta'd so I apologize a thousand times for any errors as I seriously didn't even read this through twice. Remember all characters (except Liam, Hanna and Bridget) belong to Skins...the story is all mine...so here we are...Chapter 34...all for you..._

* * *

_34_

Life is about moments, good and bad. For Naomi this moment she was living was bound to be one of those moments…one of those times in which all life just changes and then…nothing is life is ever the same…

"Baby, did not you not hear what I said?"

"What?"

Naomi still couldn't believe what was happening. She still wasn't sure what was going on and how all of a sudden she was in this situation, how all of a sudden life had changed in a single instant…without her knowing exactly how.

"You're back together?"

All she could hear was her son's voice full of glee as she watched astonished at seeing Emily walking up to her just a few seconds prior and taking her by the cheeks and kissing her, her small hands still full of flour holding her cheeks…caressing them softly…her lips kissing her tenderly…

"We are" Emily answered as she bit her lip and looked back at her son who looked like he had just witnessed some kind if a miracle.

"Really? Mummy, is it true?"

Naomi, of course couldn't look up at her son…and it wasn't because she wasn't glad about this moment, a moment that was bound to change her entire life all of a sudden.

It was because all the big moments, those life moments…the good and the bad had always come in pairs. For some reason, the good always came with the bad.

And suddenly Naomi had been rendered silent and all she could think about, all that flooded her mind like a tsunami at such a special moment was not the fact that Emily had her arms encircled around her back and was caressing it tenderly or that her son was looking at her with hopeful eyes, expecting to be told the thing he'd most wanted in his entire life for such a very long time…

At that moment all Naomi could think about…all her mind had stamina to conjure were those damn words she'd just read on Emily's phone…

_"__So that's how it's gonna be then? You're just gonna ignore me and hope it all goes away? I can't give you anymore time, Em…your time is up"_

Words that changed her entire life. Words that meant this time maybe things really couldn't be fixed. Maybe this moment was the worse moment of her life without her really knowing it.

Maybe it was HER that time that was up.

_"__There isn't any more time, Naoms…this is happening right now."_

_"__Now? What do you mean, now? What are you insane…this can't happen here…it can't happen now!"_

_Naomi was a nervous wreck and for a good reason. _

_She'd come home from work with a carry out bag full of fish tacos that her very pregnant girlfriend had requested from her just about an hour prior and all of a sudden she'd found herself with the news that in the time it had taken her to go get her gilfriend's dinner Emily had not just broken her water, but was also spontaneously going into labour…still at the house. _

_"__Mum, we can't…this can't be happening. The doctor said as soon as she started to have the contractions we had to take her in…she was way overdue…I told you, no matter where I was you had to take her to the hospital…this was your only job, Gina Campbell…"_

_"__It isn't her fault, stop yelling at her…" _

_Emily defended her girlfriend's mum with her teeth if she had to…in the last few days, while Naomi was at work Gina had been nothing but a dear to her…taking care of her every need almost as if Emily was her own daughter…calming her down, telling her stories about her youth and Naomi's childhood…exchanging baby tips and stories that she was sure even Naomi didn't know about. _

_Gina had been kind and pleasant and more of a mother than Jenna had ever been to her. The least she could do was defend her for something that wasn't her fault. _

_"__I didn't wanna go to the hospital without you…I was scared…"_

_As soon as Naomi saw that face…those brown eyes full of fear and hope and all the insecurities in the entire world she knew her life was gonna change. She knew that she could no longer freak out the way she was freaking out about all that was happening. _

_She knew that she had to be mature, she had to take things slowly and mostly…most importantly, she had to calm down and do things with a clear mind, because Emily and the baby were the most important thing in her life…more important than her nerves and her fears and her bad habit of freaking out…_

_"_Mummy?"

"Yea" She said looking up at Liam after taking a big breath just to be able to calm down. "We are...we are back together."

And so she was at one of those moments again…a moment so magnificent that it could only be described as miraculous, seeing the joy in her son's eyes, his voice almost shrieking with excitement as he ran over and held them both…he hugged them as if he had just been given another chance to be born again…as if he had been told he wasn't gonna die after all.

Because to Liam this had all been a nightmare he thought he'd never be able to wake up from...he'd suffered so much seeing his mums suffer that he could no longer take another minute of them being apart.

But now as he heard the news he'd been hoping for, for such a long time, all he could do was run over them to and hug and kiss them. He was so happy that he didn't even care about spilling any of the cake stuff all over the kitchen that his mum had just cleaned up. All he cared about was running toward them and hugging them and feeling like all was gonna be okay once again.

But was all okay? Was this moment the moment Liam was expecting it to be? It was all going so fast...

"_We got here as fast as we could."_

_Gina opened the door to her house at the insistent knock that sounded almost as if someone was trying to kick her front door open._

_"__What the heck are you doing here?"_

_Cook hardly allowed her to talk as he moved the elder Campbell out of the way and took a young man with crazy curly hair by the hand to took him upstairs to his best mate's room where he could hear Emily almost shrieking with pain. _

_"__I want drugs…baby, I told you I wanted fucking drugs for this…I can't do this without drugs baby…What the fuck are you doing here?" Emily said as she turned around and found Cook standing in front of their bed staring at them with a worried look in his face. _

_"__Emily, this is JJ...my mate from college, he's a doctor…"_

_"__I fucking know who he is, you twat…" Emily yelled out loud to Cook who was standing next to his friend JJ who looked more freaked out than anyone else the room. "What the fuck are you doing here with him? The both of you"_

_"Hi...Emily...I...I...never thought I'd see you again after all this time...and in THIS condition" JJ nervously pointed out the fact that Emily was laying semi-nude on the bed holding on to her girlfriend's arm as if it was her life support. _

_"You know each other?" Cook inquired as Naomi tried to cover her girlfriend up with some sheet she took from the wardrobe nearby and Emily took them off furiously. __"And what in the hell do you think you're doing?" _

_"I am covering you up, baby...you may be pregnant but that doesn't mean you gotta show everyone here your naughty bits"_

_"Well, it's not like I haven't seen them before" JJ pointed out trying to avoid eye-contact with Naomi immediately stood up from the bed. _

_"What?"_

_"For fuck's sake..." Emily answered, annoyed with the way JJ always seemed to say the wrong at the wrong time. It's like she was back at Roundview again. "JJ was my first...you know...boyfriend..."  
_

_"__You dated…HIM?" Cook started laughing at the irony of the situation in that maniatic way he only could...a way that annoyed the shit out of everyone else in the room. _

_"__It was only a few weeks, alright?"_

_"You never told me..." Naomi protested not being told about this one other person that had suddenly appeared as if from nowhere from Emily's past. "I thought you said Freddy was your only one..." _

_"It was only once and JJ freaked out as soon as I told him to take off those ridiculous Teddy bear pyjamas he was wearing that night...he only really got a peak...I am sorry I forgot to mention it..."_

_"A peak?" Naomi was still annoyed, still trying to get Emily to cover up so that JJ and Cook couldn't see her...but the little redhead was too annoyed to allow her girlfriend to even touch her. "I don't like this whole bad habit of 'forgetting to mention' things to me Emily...Sleeping with someone isn't something you just forget to mention..."_

_" We didn't fucking sleep together...I told you JJ freaked out and put his pyjamas back on and I got dressed again...I didn't even remmeber that happened until just now..."_

_"Glad to know I am so unforgetable" JJ said through his teeth as Cook kept on laughing so annoyingly that Naomi finally had to get up and hit in the arm. "You look the other way too, alright? I am not liking any of this one bit...you tell me right now how long you were with this...this..." _

_Emily rolled her eyes at seeing her gilfriend actually mad at her for the first time, her contractions getting bad enough that they were now only a few minutes apart..._

_"It months before we graduated and I started to date Freddy…my mum and Katie kept insisting and JJ and I got on really well…and why the fuck are we talking about my love life and not trying to get some kind of doctors here to give me some FUCKING DRUGS! I am dying here..." _

_"__He is a doctor!" Cook said smiling and trying to sneak a peak as Naomi pointed him back toward the wall. "It's why I brought him with me,mate...he'll take care of this whole thing...right Jay?"_

_"__Actually Cook, I am not really a medical doctor…my doctoral degree is in microbiology…not medical science…" _

_"__A micro-fucking-biologist…Cook…what did you think she was gonna give birth to an amoeba?" Naomi said as she stood up from beside Emily and punched Cook in the arm again. _

_"__A-Actually Amoebae don't reproduce this way but rather by splitting in half through a process called binary fission…" JJ interjected with his bid of poorly-timed general knowledge factoids as he often did. _

_"__Splitting in half…I am gonna split you in half, you tosser…I told you to go get the doctor" Naomi pushed Cook once again and then looked at JJ with such fury that it caused the poor boy to run to hide behind Naomi's mum who had come in with yet another giant bowl full of water and an excessive amount of towels…for no apparent reason...she' d been doing that every few minutes. _

_"__Why the fuck do you keep on bringing us more towels?"_

"Babe, can you pass me a towel?"

Naomi walked into the bathroom adjacent to the room they had always shared with a towel in her hand and handed it over to Emily who was standing behind behind the shower curtain with a huge smile on her face.

"I still don't know why you refused to come in here with me" Emily said as she stepped out of the shower, still completely nude and took Naomi by the hand and pulled her into her. "The water was just perfect…we could've taken a long bath together...like this morning."

It had only been a few hours since they'd told Liam about their reconciliation and he was so excited he had almost ran over toward his aunt and uncle and his grandparents to tell them the great news; until Naomi stopped him.

"Hold on mate, I think maybe we should wait a bit before telling everyone…"

"Wait…why?" Emily looked up at Naomi who looked at bit uncomfortable all wrapped up I her arms with a worried face. "I thought you wanted us to tell everyone about this…I mean, dad knows…James knows…why can't we tell everyone else about it?"

"I just…" Naomi stopped for a minute because she actually did not know what to answer. Emily was right, this is what she had been asking her for…this is what she had wanted…to tell everyone, to announce it to the entire world and then all of a sudden she wanted to keep things schtum.

"Are you regretting...?"

"No…not at all…of course…of course not…" Naomi answered as she took her ex-wife's face with her hands and started to kiss her. "This is all I want…I just…I am not sure…I think we should probably just wait until after the ceremony…your mum and Katie have been working on this darn party for more than a year and we've postponed it with our issues twice already…I don't wanna steal their thunder…"

Emily looked at Naomi with a bit of a puzzled face then, so different from the face she had now while she stood there still completely naked inside their bathroom. She caressed Naomi's neck with her hands, pushing their foreheads together as she told her the things she would've done to her…the things she would do to her if Naomi only joined her in the bath earlier.

And suddenly Emily's hands were working their way down Naomi's body, unbuttoning her shirt slightly as she started to kiss her neck slowly…still telling her her naughty plans for their evening…

"Wait a bit…I just…I am not in the mood for a bath…" Naomi removed Emily's hands from her and stepped back a bit upset at her ex-wife's insistence.

"O…kay then…no bath…that's okay…you know how you always say you favorite kind of Emily is dirty-Emily…" Emily said going back to what she was doing, starting to unzip Naomi's trousers and then putting her hand inside her knickers…

"I can make it really dirty this time…" She whispered in her ear, making Naomi cringe at the thought of Emily telling this same thing to that bitch Mandy probably just a few days before leaving Bristol.

All of a sudden she felt like she need to throw up.

"No…" Naomi said removing Emily's hand from her and stepping back. "I am not in the mood for this either…I am sorry, but I can't do this with you right now…"

Suddenly, this was another one of those moments…a moment just like one she'd just lived a few hours prior with Liam…those moments that change your life so fast that you could hardly hold yourself together.

All of a sudden everything had changed and those moments that were supposed to be making them so happy were just...gone...

All of a sudden nothing was right.

_"__Is she gonna be okay? Why won't they let me ride with her?"_

_"__The doctor will ride in the back with us, you can go in the front, miss" _

_"__He's not a doctor…he's a fucking microbiologist" Naomi had to be pulled back from the paramedic that was attending to Emily who was now being taken in an ambulance to the nearest hospital." _

_"__Why the fuck would you tell them you're a doctor, mate…are you fucking stupid…didn't you say you didn't know shit about this?" Cook said to JJ as he heard Naomi screaming at the ambulance driver next to them. _

_"__I may not be a medical doctor, Cook" JJ grabbed his friend by the arm and took him aside, away from Naomi who was being held back by Gina and another paramedic as the rest of them worked on taking Emily's vitals. "But even you could tell that a pregnant woman losing all that blood…it's NOT a good sign. I don't think Naomi would be able to handle it if…"_

_"__Don't even fucking say it, man…just fucking…don't…." Cook didn't allow JJ to speak the words, his eyes filled with water immediately at the thought of what could happen and he knew that this was one of those moment where his best mate needed him more than anything else in the world…and when Naomi needed him, he was always there for her. No matter what. _

_"Go with her...now..." Cook said as he pushed JJ into the ambulance and closed the doors himself and then __ran over to Naomi and took her with him. "You're coming with me" _

_"__No…stop! I wanna go in there with her…I can't leave her alone…I can't lose her Cook…I'll fucking die, alright? I'll die if I lose her…I'll die if I lose THEM…"_

"Oi, where the fuck are YOU going in such a hurry?"

It was odd. That moment that Naomi was living was one of the oddest moments in her entire life as she found herself walking rapidly toward her car, still shaken from what had just happened a few minutes prior…and that's when she heard him.

"Cook, oh my gosh…"

She still couldn't believe her eyes as she saw her best mate standing next to her, right next to her car smiling at her.

"How the fuck are you even…?"

"I am Bristol's most wanted, apparently" he said with his signature naughty smile.

"What?" She said hitting him in the arm as she pulled her into her and hugged her.

"I am joking babes, I thought Rob said you and Emilio already knew I was being let out…"

"We did…we just didn't…I mean, Rob never said…He said it could take weeks..."

"He pulled some strings and we did some things we were able to get me home in time for the ceremony…I been staying in hotel nearby...Rob and I wanted it to be a surprise but I couldn't wait until tommorow..."

Naomi hugged him once again because she couldn't believe he was actually there with her. She'd needed him so much during these horrid times with Emily. He'd been locked up almost as long as this whole divorce ordeal had been happening and for the first time since they'd become friends he wasn't there to help her go through it all. He'd always been there for her at the worse possible moments.

Ever since she'd met Cook, he'd been like a rock in Naomi's life…the brother she'd never had…the support she never got from anyone.

He'd help her live through the death of her dad, through her depression and the struggle during University, he'd been there in all the important moments…all the defining moments in her life…the great ones, the ones that had brought her the most joy…but also during the bad ones…the worse possible moments, those moments when she felt like she was about to lose her life…like at any moment she could lose it all.

_"__Where is she? Why is she crying? Why are YOU crying?"_

_Katie _ran into the hospital where Gina had told her that Emily had been taken to and found Cook and Naomi outside a waiting area.__

_"__Chill out babes…she's inside…they took her in and they won't let us in…"_

_"__What? Why not?" Katie said a bit furious as she walked over toward an empty Nurse's station and started yelling for someone to come help her out. _

_When Gina had called to tell her about what was happening, she'd practically jumped out of her seat in the meeting she had with a client and had driven like a maniac over to the hospital where her sister was about to have to give birth to her nephew. _

_"Where the fuck is everyone in this hospital?" Katie said a bit annoyed at finding the waiting area completly empty of medical personel. Katie hated having to wait to be taken care of...and she was about to start to howler at the top of her lungs when she heard Naomi start to cry frantically. __Naomi had been crying, shaking from both fear and anger at what was happening ever since Emily had started to bleed and they called the ambulance. _

_All of a sudden she felt like this moment was the worse one of her entire life...like if Emily or the baby didn't survive this...if something happened to her family and she wasn't allowed to be nearby them she wasn't gonna make it. If she lost them, she may as well be dead herself. _

_"__Because I am not related… I am not a fucking relative, I am not 'the father'…I am nobody…I am absolutely nobody to them…" Naomi cried out as Cook took her into his arms and allowed her remain crying. "This fucking country full of imbeciles who don't understand you don't need a paper or a fucking DNA test to allow me to go in there...I should be in there with them..._

_"__They won't let either of us inside because we aren't related, at least not legally…this is all my fault…I should've let her go inside the ambulance…JJ shouldn't be in there…"_

_"__JJ? Who the fuck is JJ?"_

_"__He's a doctor"_

_"__He's not a fucking doctor" Naomi said pushing Cook away from her. "He studies microbes, you idiot…you fucking idiot…the fucking love of my life and MY CHILD is inside there close to death and you let a fucking bug-doctor in there with them…instead of me..I am supposed to be in there…they are MY FAMILY, Cook…"_

_"__I'll fix this" Katie said as she walked away from them and started immediately yelling at some poor nurse that happened to be walking nearby. _

_"__I know I fucked up by letting JJ in the ambulance with her mate, but I couldn't let you go in there alone, alright…" Cook took Naomi by the cheeks so that she could look at him…he knew she needed to calm down…he knew she couldn't freak out because if she did, when she did, things only got worse and worse. _

_"__You need to calm down…look, they are letting Katie inside" He said as they both watch Katie still yelling at a pack of nurses who were now dressing her up in a sanitized gown to let her inside where Emily was. "She'll fix this…It's Katie, ok?…you know Katie can fix it all…" _

"Katieeeeee" Emily knocking so hard on Katie's door startled poor Hanna who had been soundly sleeping in her crib for hours already.

It was the middle of the night…at least it was for Katie who had been putting the final touches on the next day's ceremony until very late with James and Bridget and who had ended up laying on her bed with her clothes still on and fallen asleep instantly.

"What's going on? You woke up the baby…" She said as she opened the door with her eyes still only half open and holding a crying Hanna in her arms. "Please tell me someone has died or else I will actually fucking kill you myself…have you SEEN what time it is Emsy?"

"It's midnight" Emily said as she started to cry her already swollen eyes out in front of her sister.

"Oh God…what happened?" Katie said as she took Emily by the wrist and closed the door to her room before the baby woke up anyone else. "What's going on?"

"She hasn't called me…she left and she doesn't call me, she doesn't answer…"

"Wait...she who? You mean Naomi?"

"Yea, I mean Naomi..." Emily said as she sat on her sister's bed and placed her hands on her face and started to cry loudly, making Hanna cry even more. "It's midnight and I've called a million times and she hasn't called back Katie...she hasn't let me explain..."

Katie put the baby down as best as she could and kissed her and then went over to her twin sister and took her in her arms.

"Take a deep breath and tell me what happened...you aren't making any sense...tell me again what happened?" Katie was trying to figure out what Emily was telling her. She knew there was more to this story than she knew and though they were twins and sometime things were just so easy that they almost didn't have to tell each other anything...but this time Katie was completely lost.

"...She took her bag…" Emily disregarded Katie's request and went on with her rant as if Katie knew what she was talking about. "We were showering and I was kissing her and she pushed me away and…"

_"__What? What do you mean?"_

_"__I mean, I can't…I can't and I don't want to Emily. I just…I am sorry. I think I need to go."_

_Emily couldn't understand what was going on. All she knew was that hours before she had finally decided to tell Liam about her and Naomi and though they still kind of had to hide it from the rest of them it was only a matter of hours before all of them knew that they were getting back together. _

_And suddenly her entire life had changed and she finally felt like all was right with the world again as she was able to forget all her fears and worries about Naomi freaking out and leaving her again and she took a leap…she just did it. She forgot about it all and just...jumped in..._

_She had seen how worried Naomi was about Liam finding out…how much she had done to try retrieving the phone back from him so he wouldn't' find out about their texts messages and what had been going on those days…Naomi looked so worried and so scared that it only made Emily realize she had to stop this once and for all._

_She had only done this whole 'giant leap' thing twice in her life…the first time she'd done it the day she asked Naomi to marry her. After so many years of worries and doubts she'd finally gotten over them...she'd finally realized she had to stop being such a coward and just be happy with the love of her life...she'd taken a leap and it was all just like the first time she __met Naomi…that day that had happened such a long time ago but which had changed her entire life in such little time. That day Emily hadd met Naomi, was one of the best days of her life and since then she'd been the happiest and also the most scared she'd ever been in the entire life._

_That moment, those seconds that it took Naomi to walk back to her after finding out that Cook had set them up on a date were one of the most defining moments of her life. _

_As soon she saw her walking back toward her and Katie... biting her lip, full of nerves and excitement all at once she knew that Naomi was the person she needed to have in her life right away. _

_That was the moment that defined it all. _

_She knew since then as she knew now that there was no way she was going to let her go..._

_She knew this then and she knew it now...right then and there, in front of their son who watched them with the most astonished look on his face. _

_She had taken the leap and she had just walked out of that kitchen and kissed her, right in front of their son because she knew this was all she wanted...all them both ever wanted was to be together…but somehow it was as if the universe was plotting ways of setting far apart…_

_"__Naomi…Naomi where the fuck are you going?" _

_"__I need to go, I need some…I need air…I need to breath…"_

_"__Naomi...No! Don't you dare do this to me...not again..."_

_But Naomi wasn't even listening to her. She hadn't even allowed an explanation…all of a sudden, in a matter of (what seemed like) a moment Naomi had gone from being all loved-up and 'back together' with her wife to running away from her…in the same manner she had ran away last time…without allowing Emily a word in. _

_Emily had to do anything...so she didn't allow her to leave this time. She ran behind her, not caring how freaked out Naomi was or what she could do her. She ran after her and yelled back...this time she was gonna fight. _

__"__You can't just leave like this…you promised you were NEVER gonna do this to me again."__

_This made Naomi stop cold, still looking away from Emily…without being able to face her…without wanting to face the love of her life and see in her eyes that all her fears were true. _

_"__You promised me you'd never been with Mandy, but that wasn't true…was it Emily?_

_"__What? What are you talking about, Naoms? What the hell does Mandy even have to do in all this?"_

_Naomi turned around to face her. She was scared of what she was gonna see in Emlly's eyes but she couldn't help it. She needed to see if Emily was actually able to lie to her once again about this Mandy ordeal. _

_She felt like the biggest idiot on the face of the earth, once again believing that Emily was telling her the truth. _

_She'd trusted her. When Naomi and Emily had discussed it all…everything about Sophia and about the day at the hotel, they had also touched on the subject of Mandy and Emily had told her…right to her face that nothing had happened between her and her business partner. _

_And Naomi had believed her, because why would she not? They'd been through so much and had suffered so much and all Naomi wanted then was to have their family back together. _

_The reality was that even if Emily had confessed that she had been with Mandy this entire time, Naomi would've cared less because just the fact that Emily was there with her…kissing her, making love to her….being with her the way they had been all their lives it meant that whatever had happened with Mandy wasn't a threat. _

_But the fact that Emily had lied…the fact that she'd been able to look at Naomi straight in the eyes and lied to her just the same way she'd done it with Liam's birth certificate really changed things. _

_And all of a sudden, they were no longer living their happy moment…no longer was it the moment that both had envisioned this entire time. _

_All this time, in their mind this moment…the moment when it was all right again and they were back to being a family was going to be the best, the happiest, the most significant moment of their entire lives…but now it wasn't. _

_That moment was gone. _

_"…__we all make promises we can't keep…don't we Emily?" Naomi answered bitterly as Emily's eyes started to water at just hearing the bitterness in her ex-wife's voice. _

_"__Like when you promised me you'd love me always…or when you said you wanted to marry me and be with me until death did us part…or when you said Liam would be my son…"_

_"__That's not fair…you can't just…you can't throw this in my face now…you can't just get scared and freak out and throw this back in my face when we have done nothing but talk about this…and you said you'd moved past it…you said…"_

_"__I said things and so did you…and mine were true…mine were all true, Emily…I was ready…I was so ready to move along with all this…to be a family and to be true to you once again. I was ready to do whatever…like I always have been. Because that is who I am..I am the idiot you always fucking take for granted…the idiot you get to push away and question for years…the idiot that would die for you, if she had to...but you can't be arsed to be truthful to me...not even when I am willing to put the world at your feet if that's what you asked me..."_

_Now it was Naomi who was crying bitterly...crying so painfully that Emily had no choice but to run over to her, try taking her in her arms...all she wanted to do was hold her and help her calm down...help her take a breath and explain why she was saying all this...all Emily wanted was hold her and never let her out of her side..._

_"__Why are you doing this, Naomi?"_

_" __I didn't do anything…YOU did this…alright?" Naomi said as she pushed Emily away from her…the fury and pain her eyes more evident than at any other time in their lives…_

_"__Me? What did I do? Tell me what I've done now because you aren't making sense…none of this makes sense…" Emily answered as she started frantically cry and watched Naomi walk over toward the night table where Emily's phone was charging. _

_"__Maybe this could clear it all up for you…it certainly did it for me."_

_She took Emily's phone and swiped her way through the password, a word that made her laugh out loud maniacally. _

_"__Wonderwall, for fucks sake" She said as she snickered sarcastically at the choice of Emily's password. _

_All Emily could do was watch her…still unsure what it was that was happening. And then Naomi handed her her phone back and smiled sourly at her as she watched her read Mandy's text. _

_"__Thought I was never gonna find out about this, right Emsy? Looks like this time you're out of luck. Guess maybe Mandy is right...your time IS up."_

* * *

**_So...yea...let me know what you think. I'll try my best to update real soon. Thanks for reading...love you guys...(even those who insist on calling me bug names)_**


	35. Chapter 35

**AN: Hi guys, long time no see...huh? I know you're expecting for this to be an update of my other fic "Some kind of Wonderful" and when I sat down to write this last night I was totally on SpanishLily mode and suddendly I decided to open up my last chapter of Wonderwall just for nostalgic purposes and all of a sudden I sat and wrote this. So I guess now I am on Fitcherella mode and I am hoping you like what will happen here because unfortunately this will be one of the last chapters of this fic. I had longer plans for it, but I think you guys deserve an ending and I know if I elongate it more I am just gonna flake out on it, so let's move on with it. **

**Before I go on, I wanna thank someone who gave me a big surprise the other day (through my beautiful incredibly lovely TulipanesNegros who provided this info for me.) **

**To the writer of the Naomilyficspalace blog on tumblr who actually mentioned this fic as one of her faves for this entire year (Jesus, I am so honored) and who recommeded it to her own readers I wanna give a huge thanks. I read that blog and always end up reading all that you recommend and I hadn't noticed that post because I was in the hospital during that time and wasn't very keen on reading or writing back then. But I am just incredibly honored that you would mention me and that you would place me as one of your faves...it's amazing and it truly made like my entire week. I really wish I knew which one of my readers you are so I could thank you in private. I am sorry I don't have tumblr so I can't thank you that way...so I'll thank you here and urge every single one of my readers who don't already follow you to go on and follow and see what great recommedations you have. Thanks you!**

**Disclaimer: I know you know the drill but in case you forgot, I don't own Skins, characters are borrowed (except, Liam, Hanna and Bridget) and I have no beta so ALL mistakes are mine. I am also not British, that one is not my own mistake...I blame my mom and dad. **

**So here we are, number 35...**

* * *

Chapter 35

Emily Fitch had never felt so desolate in her entire life as she walked out of her sister's bedroom early that Saturday morning toward her room to get dressed.

It had been a rough night, a night she's spent mostly in her twin sister's arms quietly crying so as to not wake up her niece Hanna who was fast asleep in the crib right next the bed.

Katie and Emily had talked quietly, in between hush words the youngest Fitch had told her all her fears…all the things that had been ruminating in her mind ever since this whole thing had gotten started which had led to this…all that was happening was her fault because she hadn't had to guts to tell naomi things she should've told her straight from the beginning. Because she was afraid that this exact thing might happen. She was so afraid of telling Naomi all that was really going on with her that she'd caused Naomi to do the exact same thing she was afraid she would do.

To run away from her.

_"__You know, you should give her the benefit of the doubt…maybe she just went to vent out…she'll be back Emsy…"_

_Katie tried her best to comfort her sister as she was holding on to her. They laid in bed, snuggled up into a hug like they used to do when they were little and Katie would get scared after watching movies…Emily would always be there to comfort her and make sure she went to sleep because Emily was always the brave one...well maybe not always. _

_"__Not this time" Emily's voice was hoarse from crying. "She didn't even yell, she didn't even say anything except that she couldn't do this anymore and she walked away without letting me tell her anything."_

Katie wasn't right this time, she'd spent the entire night assuring her sister that Naomi was gonna come back but Emily had done nothing else except ring her but Naomi's phone would go straight to voicemail. She was gone for good this time.

Emily sighed at the thought and closed her eyes which hurt from all that she'd cried and opened the door to the bedroom that she'd shared with her family all those years and when she opened them she saw the thing she'd least expected in her entire life.

Her ex wife was laying on the bed fast asleep, her long dirty-blonde hair splayed out into the pillow, her arms wrapped around the nightshirt Emily had been wearing (or hardly wearing) those last few nights that they'd shared together, in that same room…making love.

_"__You came back"_

Emily's whisper hardly made it out of her mouth, her throat hurt from how much she'd cried and her voice faltered at the end of that.

"You came back" She attempted to say a bit louder but no words were coming out of her mouth, so she walked over rapidly toward the bed, the weight imbalance making Naomi open her eyes in surprise.

"Baby, you came back" She tried to say but her voice was way too weak and she started to feel exasperated until she felt Naomi's hands take her by the cheeks and start to kiss her so desperately and sweetly that Emily could hardly contain the tears that started to fall down her eyes.

"Don't…" Naomi said as she desperately kissed her ex-wife's cheeks, cleaning her tears with the back of both her thumbs and then kissing each one of her eyes as if she was trying to erase each one of those tears with her kisses.

"Don't cry anymore, I can't stand to see you crying, baby"

_"__Please don't cry, baby…you know I can't stand it when you do that" _

_Naomi was desperate at seeing the pain she had caused Emily by revealing what she had done with Sophia on that business trip. _

_Cook had been completely right when he'd told her that she shouldn't say anything about that darn kiss since in her mind it didn't mean anything at all because she was sure she didn't want anything to do with Sophia…she didn't even know why it was she had even kissed her. _

_"__You kissed her? You fucking…how could you…how could you do this to me, Naomi?"_

_She was hurting her the most she'd ever thought she'd hurt her wife and if she had listened to her best mate then she wouldn't be here watching her wife start to cry so much that Naomi could feel her own heart breaking at watching the pain in her beautiful brown eyes. _

"You came back" Emily was finally able to say, as she held her forehead against her ex-wife's as they both tried to catch their breath for a second.

Katie had been completely right when she'd told her Naomi would always come back. She'd told her Naomi loved her too much and that she should have faith in love and when Emily tried to ask why it was that Katie was so sure about Katie simply told her Naomi was the one that had gotten Cook to give up Effy.

Naomi had been the one that saved her family from being destroyed by Effy and this was why Katie was so determined to help her sister and Naomi out...because she knew that if Naomi and Emily could survive it then she could wait another half a year for Cook to come out and they could be a family as well...if they could work it out then she could too.

Katie always knew Naomi would be back to Emily, because she'd seen it each and every time...Naomi could never go away for too long without running back to her sister's side...that was true love.

"It doesn't matter what you did or did not do, Emily…I'll always be back, because my heart doesn't know where to go if it's not nearby you"

_"__Seriously Naomi? You're not giving up, are you? How many times am I gonna ask you to please stop waiting for me here…"_

_"Just this last time__…" Naomi said and then bit her lip when she saw Emily roll her eyes and sigh in frustration. _

_"__You said that yesterday" Emily said a bit frustrated and then started stepping away as Naomi followed her to her car._

_"__You look beautiful this morning" Naomi voiced out as Emily walked rapidly away from here. _

_"__You say that to me every morning" Emily's voice was frustrated, she was growing tired of having to do this with Naomi every single morning…but at the same time she couldn't help but feel an exhilaration and a myriad of feelings as she would hear Naomi start to sing her that darn song she couldn't get out of her head..._

**_Today is gonna be the day that _****_I'm_****_ gonna throw it back to you_**

_"__You're singing it wrong" Emily would look back, trying her best not to smile at watching Naomi standing there with her guitar singing this song to her as she did every morning. _

**_By now you should've somehow realized what you gotta do_**

_Maybe Mandy was right about her not allowing Naomi to do this, because she knew that little by little, Naomi's instance was gnawing away the rage she had felt about finding her in that room with Sophia. And for a few seconds before Emily walked to her car that song was softening her heart and suddenly she felt like maybe if she turned around and ran toward her wife and kissed her and told her she missed her then maybe all of this pain would go away and then her life would start making sense again. She wanted to kiss her so much right now. _

**_I don't believe that anybody feels the way I do about you now_**

_But her fears, those fears that were only being fueled by the words of Mandy made her think otherwise and once again…for yet another one of those morning she'd walk into her car and shut the door, muting out the sound of that song she could sing in her sleep by now and turning the ignition, leaving Naomi standing there watching her drive away as she did every morning. _

"Baby, please let me explain…that text…"

"Shhh…" Naomi's finger on top of Emily's lip stopped her from going on with her explanation. "I don't need an explanation, I just need to know you love me…I just need to feel that you love me and you've missed me just as much as I love and miss you every second we are apart…"

Emily actually didn't need to say anything else because the way she kissed her so desperately answered all of Naomi's doubt.

Naomi's talk with Cook that night had been a long one but since the very moment she even started to talk she knew what the conclusion was gonna be.

He was gonna tell her to stop being daft and to go back to the house and make up with her wife and stop this nonsense already. Cook was hurt by all that had happened, all he had done to Katie and his family because of his cowardice and he wasn't gonna rest until he knew his best friend…his sister, Naomi fixed that thing he couldn't fix even by going to jail.

Katie had sent him papers asking for Hanna's full custody and had filed a divorce based on the evidence that he had been having an affair with Effy Stonem behind her back. She'd gone on with what her mother had suggested after all and this had forced Cook to try his best to get out of jail because he knew he needed to get his family back.

So he'd finally ended up giving up Effy, he'd ended up giving his real statement to the authorities about it all allowing him to be pardoned for being an accomplice to all that Effy had done and ending her up in jail.

And now he was there with his best mate Naomi, begging her not to give up on something he knew for sure was real because he'd seen it. He'd been witness to the way these two loved each other because he'd seen them grow and form this family from that first moment and he wasn't gonna allow them to throw this away so easily.

The loved each other from the very start.

_"__I've missed you" Naomi smiled and pulled herself up on her elbow as she watched her beautiful girlfriend walk hastily over to her with a glass of water in her hands and smile back. _

_"__I've only been for like 45 seconds" Emily took a sip of the water she had in her hand and then sat on the bed right next to the blonde who was looking at her and biting her lip. _

"_That's way too many seconds to be apart from you" Naomi pulled Emily toward her so suddenly that it made the redhead spill some of the water from the glass she was holding. _

_"__Naomi!…look at this...now I've got you all wet" _

_Naomi laughed as she watched Emily put the glass behind them on the night table and then she pulled the little redhead on top of her between her legs. _

_"__I don't think we can blame the water for that."_

_Emily shrieked as Naomi bit her neck in a place where the blonde had just discovered Emily was ticklish. This was that first night they had ever been together, properly….that night after Emily had waited for Naomi wearing the sexiest piece of lingerie Naomi had ever seen on anyone and the blonde couldn't help it…she'd left all the groceries she was holding in her hands on the floor and had locked the door and now it was hours later and she still couldn't get enough of her. _

_"__Jesus, you weren't kidding before about wanting more…" Emily smiled as she felt Naomi's arousal with the tip her fingers. _

_"__I told you not to go" Naomi couldn't help but kiss this beautiful girl that had her so crazy in love she thought maybe she never get enough. _

_"__I needed to re-hydrate or else I wasn't gonna be able to go into the fifth round" Emily's voice was muffled by the site of Naomi's skin as she slowly kissed and nibbled at her abdomen, looking up every now and then at Naomi's beautiful blue eyes watching her. _

_"__Hydration is for losers" Naomi teased, raking her fingers through Emily's fiery red hair that tickled her a bit as she felt her descend slowly through her body. _

_"__Don't ever say that in front of my dad, he'd kill you…" Emily stopped her insistent tongue before reaching her final destination as she looked at Naomi for a second. _

_"__Oh baby, please don't mention your dad while you are doing that to me…" _

"Please let me…" Emily stopped Naomi's desperate kisses, not because she wanted to…but because she had to. She didn't wanna ignore this, she needed to tell Naomi the reason for that text because she had stayed quiet about this entire thing for way too long and she wasn't gonna allow all this confusion to go on any longer.

"Okay" Naomi said a bit scared, while it was true that she had come back to Emily ready to forgive and forget it all…she knew all she needed was to kiss her back and feel that Emily did truly love her she didn't know if she was ready to have to hear what had gone on between Emily and Mandy.

She felt like maybe she didn't care, that maybe whatever it was that Emily had done was in the past because she was sure as Cook was telling her to search her heart and ask herself is she thought Emily loved her that she did.

All those days when they were hiding behind the closed doors of that same room, when it was a little bit of a naughty game they were playing she'd been given the chance to be with her now ex-wife and she was sure that everything they had lived together….all those plans, the loving worlds, the kisses and the touches and all they'd shared was all the proof she needed to know for sure that Emily still loved her.

And to Naomi all she needed to know was that. That is all the proof she needed.

"Where are you going?"

Emily got up off the bed for a second, pulling away from Naomi's embrace as the blonde tried not letting her go unsuccessfully.

"There's something you gotta see." Emily said as she walked over toward one of the cupboards that held a bunch of old clothes they'd left there all the other times they had visited Emily's parent's house and pulled out a huge envelope.

Emily looked at the unopened envelope and handed it over to Naomi who looked at her a bit confused.

"What is it?"

"Open it" Emily hardly even allowed Naomi to question her about it.

Naomi looked at bit questionably and then looked at the address on it.

"Isn't this the your work paperwork?"

_"__Mama…" Liam walked into the dining area after coming back from having opened the door that had rang right when they were all getting ready to eat lunch together. _

_"__This came for you…it was the postman…it's from Bristol….Galen &amp; Associates" _

_"__Galen?"Rob asked a bit concerned "…isn't that the law firm where Thomas works?"_

_"__Yea…" Emily said looking at the giant envelop a bit concerned and then looking at her entire family who was waiting for her to answer. "No worries, it's probably just stuff for the cake business, I gave Thommo all my business since Panda mentioned he needed more work…I told him I'd be here a bit and he needed to get some paperwork sorted...that's probably what this is." _

_"__Open it, maybe it's important…" Rob said a bit concerned at watching his daughter's face. _

_"__Oh no you're not…this isn't business time Robert, this is family time" Jenna took the envelope from Emily's hand and placed it on a table behind them making Emily a bit relieved at having to reveal to her family what those papers actually were. _

"They are" Emily answered, making Naomi even more confused than before. Emily smiled and took the envelope and broke the seal herself and then took a huge stack of papers in her hand and handed them to Naomi.

"Take a look though…"

"O-kay" Naomi said still a bit confused as she started to read through it she hardly read two lines before Emily started talking.

"They are the dissolution of the business with Mandy, baby" Emily said a bit excited. She couldn't wait for Naomi to read it all.

"The dissolution of the business?" Naomi was confused as she looked at the papers again and then up at Emily who hardly even let her get a word in. "Are you sure?"

_Emily was more than sure she wanted to do this and as she sat in the conference room of her attorney's office in front of Mandy and her own attorney about to sign the dissolution of her business she was even more convinced that this is what she wanted to do. _

_"__Time out…I'd like a word alone with Ms. Fitch" _

_Mandy got up trying desperately to stop this which she labeled as nonsense from Emily and try working something out but the brunette wasn't budging. _

_Ever since Emily had told her she was gonna go see that Cook tosser in jail she'd become distant with her and then all of a sudden she'd come back with the crazy idea that she was gonna end their business together and go to Glasgow to be with her family. _

_"__I'll allow it" Emily said as she looked at the eyes of Thomas, the attorney who had been handling all of her business since the beginning of it and an old time from college. _

_As she got up to have a word in private with Mandy she felt her phone start to buzz in her pocket, another call from Liam interrupting this meeting….this was the third time. _

_"__I am sorry, I must take this….hi baby…what's going on?" She managed to say to Liam as Mandy followed behind her begging her to pay attention. _

_"__Please, give me a minute, yea?" She said to Mandy as she held her hand on top of the speaker so that Liam wouldn't hear Mandy's voice and get even more upset than he already sounded. _

"Baby, this isn't…" Naomi tried to say as Emily pulled two fingers on top of her lips and told her to shush for a second and then kissed her softly.

"I know" She whispered as she held her forehead against Naomi's. "I know you said it isn't necessary, but I need to explain it all…so there's never a single doubt in our mind that I only love you and nobody else, okay?"

"Okay" Naomi answered back with a whisper, allowing Emily to go on with her explanation.

"I am sorry I didn't tell you this before…please don't hate me." Emily said a bit louder, causing Naomi to open her eyes and look at her.

"I don't…"

"That day when Liam had that incident, while he was at sports and he told the psychiatrist at the hospital that he had heard Mandy in the background he wasn't wrong…I _was_ with Mandy that day. But it wasn't because of what he thought."

"Okay" Naomi's voice was so weak it prompted Emily to kiss her one more time before going on. She moved back from being face to face with her to her side as Naomi put the paperwork down on the night table and sat back against the headboard and took Emily into her arms and held her.

"Mandy had been a bit insistent with me…a bit too forward and it was making me uncomfortable, her advances were way too many and she had been so aggressive with pushing me about getting that divorce with you that I couldn't take it anymore and I went to see Katie…"

"And?" Naomi's voice cracked from the rage she felt as she even thought about Mandy having anything to do with Emily.

"Katie was at the jail getting some sort of paperwork or something from Cook…I think it was for Hanna's adoption…anyway, she told me to meet her there but when I got there she had left and wouldn't answer the phone so since I was there I decided to go visit Cook and then he told me about your plans…"

"My plans?"

"He said you were thinking about taking that job in New York…permanently" Emily said a bit upset, she held on to Naomi tighter as the blonde kissed her on her forehead and held on to her as best she could.

"When I heard that I felt desperate, so I got out of there and I called Mandy immediately and told her we needed to break up the business…"

"You did?"

"Yea" Emily looked at Naomi's eyes which were starting to water once again. "All I wanted was to cut any ties I had with this woman, because you thought that I had something with her…Cook told me that both you and Liam were thinking that and I just couldn't allow it….so I called her and tried to end it…"

"Tried?"Naomi said confused.

"She didn't let me….she threatened me"

"Threatened you? How?" Naomi was so upset that every limb in her body tightened up as she felt Emily's hand work her way up her shirt and caress her belly and kiss her neck just like she always did when she wanted to help her calm down.

"Turns out she lied…remember how she had said she was investing all that money her dad left her after he passed away in the business…well, she wasn't…"

"What? So how did she manage…."

"She took out loans, under my name…without my permission..."

"How?"

"She knew I am a stupid trusting bitch"

"Baby...don't say that..."

"But it's true...I am such an idiot. I never once questioned her, I let her run the business part since she was supposed to be assisting with that and I just focused on the craft."

"But you never once suspected anything?"

"I once asked her about it, it was weird that she had me signing so many papers but she told me they were contracts for our clients….but she had me sign paperwork that I didn't know I was signing….it was liens and contracts for loans to help fund all the things we needed to fund and little bit little I was more in debt than what we were making…and so when I asked Thomas to do the dissolution he found this whole thing out and suggested something crazy…"

"What?"

_"__No Thommo, I can't get her to do this…this isn't what I want….this is the opposite of what I want right now…."_

_"__It is the only way Emily…" Thomas stood up off his desk where he had been helping his friend Emily with her consultation about the business and all that had happened with Mandy. "If she's still married to you then technically all that she owns is part of the marital patronage so when they come after you, they'll take it all…"_

_"__Everything? The flat too?"_

_"__Everything Em, the flat, the cars, everything in your bank accounts….even that house her mum used to live in…"_

_"__Gina's house? But that's her childhood home…they can't…Gina transferred it over to her as a gift for Liam"_

_"__They can and they will…unless you are divorced before you make this move against Mandy, they will take it all…."_

"Oh baby" Naomi kissed Emily and then held on to her tightly. "Why didn't you tell me, baby? You should've told me…"

"I don't know…I was scared of your reaction.I was scared because I still wasn't sure about all that had happened with Sophia…I still had my doubts about what went on and what I was feeling for you…I wasn't sure what was gonna happen with us but I knew I wasn't gonna allow Mandy to fucking take it all from us. So I told her to give me more time…to think about it…."

"You should've told me"

"I was scared...this all had me going insane and you always react so abruptly to everything and you never listen to me…the least I wanted was for you to go do something rash and have us end up homeless, baby."

When Naomi heard that she'd realized how stupid she really had been. How Cook was completely right about the way she had reacted...the way she always reacted to everything. She knew that she had to be this impulsive about everything, she had to learn to have patience and listen and take her time with things because acting this way one more time could cause her to lose everything...her everything...Liam and Emily...her Wonderwall.

"She told me she'd give me until I came back from Glasgow, from the wedding vow ceremony so that I could go back on ending the business. She told me that if I _cooperated_ with her and stopped this nonsense that she was able to pay off all that debt…but I…I can't, you know….so I told Thomas to go on with the paperwork and that's why I was rushing you to signing the divorce…"

"Right" Naomi smiling a bit. "About the divorce…."

"I didn't wanna sign it…"Emily said desperately.

"I know baby…"

"I am serious…"

"I know" Naomi said taking Emily by the chin and placing small kisses all over her face. "I know…I know….I know…"

"I didn't want you to leave to New York, I just wanted us to work it out but I had to pretend I didn't so you'd sign because I knew you'd refuse to do it and I couldn't allow them to take it all. But I promise, I swear to you on top of Liam's head that the least I ever wanted to do was sign those divorce papers."

"I know baby…you don't need to tell me that. I know…"

"How do you know?" Emily said a bit confused. "How are you so sure?"

"Because those papers in that envelope aren't the papers for the dissolution of the business that Thomas was supposed to send you." Naomi said caressing her wife's face with her hands.

"They aren't?" Emily cocked up her head.

"No…they aren't….they are our divorce papers."

"Our divorce papers?"

"You never signed them, baby…_I_ signed them, but _you_ never did."

"What?"

* * *

**Right...soooo...what do you think about that? Did you like the update? Review and let me know what think. **

**FYI, I WILL update "Some kind of Wonderful" very soon, so if you haven't read it go on read it, but first don't forget to leave me a nice comment or review and let me know what you thought about this chapter...Thanks for reading! Love you all!  
**


	36. Epilogue

**AN: Way back in April (or around that time) when I first had the idea for this story things were so much different than they are right now I am almost at awe at how your life changes in such little time. This story was started with something in mind that no longer exists, that's why it was so hard for me to finish it up for you guys but somehow, today I woke up with a bite of the writing bug and I thought why not end it...I think it's about.**

**But before I end, I wanted to sincerely thank each and every one of you who have been reading and following and commenting along with me through this entire thing. You guys have no idea how much joy it had brought me to read your comments at times when sometimes I really needed to a bit of a pick-me up. And I wish I could thank each one of you individually and I totally have so many names in my head that I have thankful words for but I've decided not to single anyone out because I think all of you...even those who have never reviewed but still followed (I know when you read, ffnet is nice enough to give me numbers) were all a huge encouragement on making this story move along until the end and for me to keep on writing when I absolutely did not even feel like thinking sometimes.**

**So thank you EVERYONE...and to those who are extra special, I think you know who you are and I don't need naming because you I tell you every day. I have actually made some great friends thanks to this forum and even specifically to this story...and if this story (and every story) would have to be re-written once again so that I could meet them I would...because they are all quite special in my life.**

**So here it is...for one last time...no disclaimer needed as I feel like you all know the drill. And you're all great, and lovely and wonderful...and you make me smile with you're comments. And I am cheesy as hell, so I'll just go on and say it... And after all...you're my Wonderwall!**

**_Here you go...the Epilogue...Enjoy. :) _**

* * *

**Epilogue**

She'd been sitting in that booth across from the bar for what she felt like way too long to have to wait for something like this. It was way too late in the evening for them to be out doing any of this as she knew that the next day would be like living hell having to wake up the twins and take them to school only about six hours from then.

"Fuck's sake, what's taking so long?"

"Chill out baby, he said he'd be out in a minute…he promised."

"It's been an hour…is he even gonna get to play? I am gonna kill Cook, you know…he's the one that came up with cockamamie idea…"

"Heard my name, what's up muff-monkeys?"

"You know it's not as charming when you say stuff like that at 43 than it was when you were 23, do you mate?"

"I am always charming at 23, 43, 83…it's a Cook thing, ain't that right, darling?"

"That's right daddy!"

Naomi shook her head as she watched her best friend who had his arm wrapped around his small daughter start laughing and tickling her.

"Who brings a 7-year-old to a pub on a Saturday night? You know if Katie knows about this, she's clearly gonna wanna kill you."

"It's okay Auntie Emsy…I am his date"

"See…she's my date…" Cook said smiling as Emily shook her head in disbelief and she looked over at Naomi who was trying to shimmy her head around Cook and Hanna to take a look at the stage where Liam was supposed have been performing almost an hour before.

"What the heck is taking so long?"

_"__What's taking them so frigging long, mate…they were supposed to let us know every 10 minutes…isn't that what they told you Katie?"_

_"__Yea" Katie wasn't looking very good right about now. In fact, she hadn't been looking too well ever since she'd left her sister's side right before they took her into the OR while she switched places with Naomi who had finally been allowed into the birth of her nephew, thanks to the force of nature that was Katie Fucking Fitch and her relentless ability to get people to do anything she told them to. _

_"__N-no need to worry…t-these t-t-thing take this long sometimes…" JJ was just as nervous or maybe even more nervous as he kept on looking at his watch and noticing all the time that had passed by with his friend Emily still being operated on, no news from Naomi or even a nurse…this couldn't be a good sign. It couldn't be a good sign at all. _

_"__See, babes…JJ is a doctor…he knows about these things. It's gonna be alright, yeah?"_

_Cook was trying to be supportive and brave about it all but he also knew this couldn't be a great thing since this long of a delay never was. Sometimes no news was good news, but for some reason…in this case…no news might be horrible news after all. _

"Bad news, Charlie still isn't here and Keith says he can't wait any longer so they aren't letting us play" Liam came out of the back of the bar with his guitar in his hand. His hair a lot longer than it had been the last time Naomi and him had been at that pub together.

It had actually been years since they'd been back in Bristol. After that eventful week in Glasgow during the Fitch's anniversary party things had changed so much for them that it had given them no choice but forget all about their entire life in that city which they had called home almost their entire life and start anew.

"_Are you absolutely sure this is what you wanna do baby? You know that if we do this we can't back out…"_

_"__I know" Naomi answered her wife, holding her tighter than she ever had held her…almost leaving Emily without air to breath for just a second. _

_"__You know there's always the option of…"_

_"__No…I am not gonna divorce you, if that's what you're trying to get at. You know how hard it was for me to have to sign those papers that day? I can't do it again…I can't live through that again…"_

_"__Not even to save our flat and our cars and things…even your mother's house…"_

_"__Fuck my mother's house…fuck our flat and the cars and everything…they can take everything for all I care…those are all just things, Emily…all of that can be bought back…all of that we can regain again, but we can't regain back this."_

_Naomi pointed to the gap between them both almost as if there was some sort of force that held them together which she was afraid to somehow lose if she had to be forced to give her up one more time. _

_And maybe it was a bit insane…or maybe a lot…but there was something inside of her that suddenly gave her the feeling that if she allowed for that bitch Mandy to get what she wanted from them…to break them apart that she wasn't gonna be able to put them back together. She was not ready to risk that. _

_"__So what are we gonna do babes? Are we gonna live off thin air? I gotta remind you that I no longer have a business and that you don't have a job…"_

_"__I do have a job, I work for your dad…he gave me a job until…"_

_"__Cook came out of jail…"_

_"__Oh" _

_Naomi hadn't even thought that about what Cook's presence meant and how now that he was back in the picture the job offer from Rob was null, at least as far as she knew it. _

_"__I'll fine another job then…I'll get two if necessary...hell, I'll work at McDonald's if I have to be I will not allow this bitch to win, Emily…we can't give in to her game."_

_Emily sighed as she was sure after Naomi was a bit more calm she would think this through again and notice that getting a divorce and pretending to be with Mandy for a bit until the brown-skinned girl paid out all the debt they owed was the right thing to do. She was sure that no matter what she had to do, it was all worth it if it meant securing the life of Naomi and Liam and all they had built together. _

_"__No…don't do that."_

_"__Do what?"_

_"__Don't give me that frustrated face, Em…don't you realize how hard it has been for us to come back to each other after all of this? Don't you agree that it has been hell just keeping the secret that we were back together just for your family, can you imagine how hard it would be to have to be running around Bristol pretending we don't love each other, having to live away from you, having to lie to Liam and break his heart again and pretend that we aren't back together anymore all so that we could appease a stupid bitch that had been trying to break us up since day one?"_

"Well if you aren't gonna be playing then we must go because I am exhausted and I am thinking Panda and Thommo are probably lighting a candle to every deity out there so that we could go pick the two little critters from their house…" Naomi stood up and wrapped her arm around her now very tall, long haired son and gave him a big fat kiss on his cheek like she always did.

"Oh, mummy…for fuck's sake…" He said wiping his cheek, making Naomi laugh at his face of disgust.

"Liam, watch the language…"

"I am 18, mama…I think it's okay now."

"Actually, you're still 17, Liam" Hanna said corrected her elder cousin as he shook his head and stuck out his tongue at her and she smiled. _"OK, Princess Exact-or_…I'll be 18 tomorrow…and that is gonna be in about…ummm…five minutes.'

_"__I am giving them five more minutes and I am gonna walk back in there and demand to know what is happening to my sister."_

_Katie's voice was shot from the nervousness, her lisp a lot more noticeable than ever before. _

_"__If they don't come out in five, I'll go in there me-self babes" Cook took Katie into an embrace and kissed her forehead and looked back at his mate JJ who was nervously calculating something with his fingers, about to go into a bit of frenzy. _

_"__Come out, come out…come fucking out…"_

"They're calling us back in, mate...Charlie just got here" another long-haired chap of about Liam's age with a failed attempt at a beard wearing an old Oasis t-shirt and some faded jeans came out of the back of the bar with a white electric bass in his hands.

"Really?" Naomi bit her lip and rolled her eyes thinking she was definitely not gonna get any sleep at all that night and then she had to deal with Noel and Chelsea's hyper-energetic morning routine the next day.

She loved her younger son and daughter, she really loved them to pieces but she had to be truthful in admitting that maybe it would've been better if they had gone with the idea of allowing Emily to carry the babies instead of her.

At the age of 4, her two little critters were just as stubborn and thickheaded as she had ever been and she despised the fact that this entire thing amused the shit out of her mum Gina who insisted the twins were karmic fate for all those years of putting her through the same thing.

Naomi had never been an easy child, hell…she wasn't as easy of an adult either so it was lucky enough that she had found Emily who was the only person in the world who would put up with her little attitude when she was upset.

"Come on, angry bird…" She said taking Naomi by the hand and then kissing her son on the cheek before walking away toward the booth where they'd been sitting. "Good luck baby…you're gonna do great."

"I know mama, I am going kick arse"

"That's my boy!"

_"__It's a boy, Cookie…it's a freaking boy…I have a boy" Naomi came out of the delivery room jumping up and down like she had somehow just won the lottery. _

_Katie smiled as she watched her boyfriend almost pick up his best mate from the floor and twirl her around from the utter excitement. _

_"__Wasn't it always gonna be a boy?" JJ asked a bit curious at what the whole excitement was about. He was sure Cook had mentioned Emily was gonna have a son and that they were gonna name him Noel after the chap from that band Oasis because his best mate Naomi was obsessed with a group...especially that song…_

_What was it again?_

**"****Today is gonna be the day that they're gonna throw it back to you. ****By now, you should've somehow realized what you've got to do. ****I don't believe that anybody feels the way I do, about you now…"**

Naomi stood up from the booth where she'd been sitting cuddled up with Emily as soon as she heard the chords of her favourite song in the entire world start to play and then the voice of her son start to sing it.

**"****Back beat, the word is on the street that the fire in your heart is out. I am sure you've heard it all before but you never really had a doubt. I don't believe that anybody feels the way I do about you now" **

Tears started falling down her eyes indiscriminately as she watched him sing, looking straight at them as the gracefully serenaded them both with a song that had for some reason meant so much to her, her entire life.

As she closed her eyes all she could feel was a sea of emotions as she remembered the voice of her own dad lulling her to sleep as he held her into his arms and caressed her back with his strong hands, she could almost remember what he smelled like, what he felt like…how his rough facial hair used to tickle her face as she had it buried into the crook of his neck.

**"****And all the roads we have to walk are winding. And all the lights that lead us there are blinding. There are many things that I would like to say to you, but I don't know how."**

That sensation of safety that she felt in her dad's arms was the same one she felt while she was holding on to her wife and son when he was still small enough to be able to share a bed in their family's house in Glasgow.

The same feeling of warmth and love and heaven she felt since the first time she'd slept in Emily's bed, that night that she had met her and gotten her sick from that ridiculous bet and the little redhead had asked her to stay the night just holding her.

She had fallen asleep almost instantaneously that night, but had woken up extra early the next morning with the biggest smile on her face as she'd some how found the warmth she'd been missing ever since the last time she had felt her father's embrace a few years before his death.

After he'd left them nothing had ever been the same, even though she loved her mum to pieces and would do anything for her, nothing had been the same since Liam Campbell was gone…until she had found Emily…who for some reason (whether it was her destiny or her fate or just pure coincidence) had come attached to that little boy that was now that young man with the long dirty-blond hair and those beautiful deep brown eyes that stared and smiled at his mummies as the held each other tight and moved to the beat of the music.

"_That's my boy…right? He's my boy…he's my son" Naomi was crying and though Katie tried to always put up a brave face and cry as little as she could in front of people she couldn't help but shed some tears (of joy) at watching the bouts of happiness that were evident in the eyes of her sister's girlfriend as she kept repeating those words out loud. _

_"__Yea…he's your son" Cook watched Katie tell that to his best mate who was watching her baby nephew from behind the nursery's glass and at that moment knew Katie was definitely the right girl for him. He'd been doubting until then if any of that was gonna work out because sometimes Katie was a bit difficult, but seeing her react that way to the person he considered like his own sister convinced him that this was the girl he wanted to spent the rest of his life with. With her and with all of them. _

_"So did we decide on a name?"_

_"__His name is Liam…that's the name his mama decided and whatever his mama wants from now on…she gets… I don't even care how much it costs. She will always get whatever the heck she wants."_

"Can I have a kiss?" Emily was cuddle up into her wife's side as they watch their son perform that song that held such a great meaning to them both.

"Aren't they all yours?" Naomi teased, and then kissed her wife behind the ear and then on the cheek and finally pulled her lips onto hers and kissed her passionately.

"You kiss me like that and I am gonna wanna make another baby with you" Emily whispered on to her wife's lips, making Naomi smile instantly.

"Nooooo...no more babies, please" Naomi answered back comically, making Emily laugh and place her forehead unto her wife's.

"Wasn't it eight more you wanted?"

"I wanted eight more like you, not eight more like me…"

"So eight more of him, then?" Emily replied, pointing over at Liam who was about to finish up the song he'd been playing with his band.

"I think we've got enough with him and the two little crazies we left at aunt Panda and uncle Thommo's,yeah?"

**_"_**_You realize this means we are gonna have to stay in this crazy house for at least a few months until we could make enough capital to get back to Bristol…if maybe even more than that." Emily cuddled into her wife in the safety of their bed that summer evening after her parents wedding vow ceremony. _

_"__Well at least now Katie will go back home to Bristol with Cook and that would leave that room free, for Noel and Chelsea to share until we could move back into our own place."_

_"__Noel AND Chelsea? No baby…we aren't having kids right now, we definitely not having twins and under no circumstances whatsoever will they be named Noel and Chelsea."_

**_"Because maybe, you're gonna be the one that saves me...and after all...you're my Wonderwall"_**

Liam ended the song with an applause from the audience, his mum still holding onto one another like they had the day they had met in that very pub years prior.

"I know I wasn't supposed to this until later on when my entire family was present, but seeing as though it's technically now my birthday I am now 18, I could do whatever the heck I want." Liam joked with the small audience that was at Keith's pub watching his band perform that night.

"No you can't" Naomi yelled out from behind, making the rest of them laugh even louder.

"Love you too mummy" He yelled back and everyone awed at him, his bandmates mocking him a tiny bit as they started laughing and imitating him from behind.

"No, but seriously before we proceed with the next song…since it's officially my birthday and I seriously cannot wait any longer I wanted to make sure I did this as soon as I could. Do you have it Uncle Cook?"

Cook nodded and Liam pulled his guitar off from the strap and handed it over to his bandmate Charlie and then jumped down the stage toward his uncle who had Hanna up in his shoulders.

Cook took something from his pocket, handing it to his eldest nephew who smile and told him thanks before weaving his way through the rest of the small audience over to Naomi who was still hugged into her wife Emily, still astounded by what was going on all of a sudden.

"I know it's my birthday and I am the one who is supposed to be getting a present, but I think after all that's happened maybe it was your turn to get a present as well."

"My turn?" She said a bit confused, looking at Emily who for some reason had a bit of a sly smile on her face that looked exactly like the one that Liam was sporting.

"You too planned this together, didn't you…pair of devious Fitches" She said pointing at them both and then taking the paper that Cook had handed over to Liam from his hand, a white envelope with nothing but a single paper inside.

"Open it" Liam insisted, making Naomi's stomach fill with excitement for some reason…even though she did not know why.

"O-K…what is it?" She said as she tore into the envelope and pulled out the paper and opened up the three folds and started reading.

"Read it"

"OK, alright…I'll…." Naomi stopped mid-sentence as she couldn't believe what she was reading. Her eyes immediately filled with tears as she read something she had never thought she'd been able to read in her entire life.

It was a copy of Liam's new ID card, under name it read…

_William Robert Fitch...Campbell. _

"I love you mummy."

_"__Daddy?"_

_"__Yes, darling?" _

_"__Can you sing it to me one more time?"_

_"__It's rather late, love…daddy has to get up really early tomorrow to go back on the tour…"_

_"__Just one last time…okay?"_

_"__OK…one last time…"_

**_"_****_Today is gonna be the day that they're gonna throw it back to you…"_**

Liam Campbell was exhausted but for some reason he couldn't help but sing this song to his little blonde daughter one more time to get her to go to sleep.

He'd hardly been able to get to do this so often, except over the phone when Gina would allow him to call and talk to Naomi and sing her this song so that she could go to sleep.

Being close to his wife and daughter was the only thing he'd wanted during those lonesome nights on the road with Oasis, though in a way he was living his life-long dream of going on tour, playing back up, being a roadie to one of the greatest bands he'd ever known none of it was enough and he was fed up and ready to call it quits and go back to Bristol as soon as the tour ended.

But before he did, he knew he had to cherish those moment with his little one..who for whatever reason loved to hear him sing and loved him much more than he had ever hoped anyone would ever love him. And he loved her back just as much.

**"By**** now you should've somehow realized what you've gotta do"**

"When I am older I will have a son, and he's gonna be tall with long blonde hair and will play guitar like you, daddy…and his name is gonna be Liam, too."

"OK, love…let me finish the song before mum comes in here and doesn't let me finish it, yeah?"

"OK, daddy…" Naomi said as she cuddled onto her dad's side, feeling the the vibration in his voice on his very body suddenly lulling her into sleep.

This was the last time she'd ever get to experience this, but she didn't know it then...so for now all was just perfect and life was grand and nothing could disturb the happiness that being this close to her dad brought into her short little life.

"**_And all the roads we have to walk are winding_****_…And all the lights that lead us there are blinding…There are many things that I would _****_like to say to you _****_but I don't know how_****_…"_**

She was only really six, and maybe she hadn't experience much in her life just yet but in her little mind she was sure that being next to him was all she ever needed to be happy in her entire life. She still did not know how to express all the love she had for him, but as her eyes closed for now this was all she ever needed to feel safe and happy...to feel alive.

That was all she had ever needed, that was all she'd ever known. And until then, until that very last moment she was about to be with him this was all she ever wanted in her life. To be next to the most important person in her life. To the one that meant all was fine. To the one that gave her life meaning. He was it. He was all. He was her Wonderwall.

**_"_****_Because maybe_****_…_****_You're gonna be the one that saves me_****_…And after all…_****_You're my Wonderwall._****_"_**

* * *

_Thank so much for reading. Reviews are welcomed and appreciated. Love you all to pieces! Happy Holidays, my lovelies. _


End file.
